Around 27,482 cybercrime cases in 2017: Will Windows 10 OS upgrade prevent cyberattacks in India?

Cyber crime incidents in India are seeing a rise, as at least one such incident was reported in the country every 10 minutes in the last six months of 2017. This is a drastic increase in the frequency of cyber attacks compared to last year (2016), when one such crime was reported every 12 minutes.

Cyber experts have warned corporate offices and business organisations to ensure basic security against cyber threats while also committing to implement critical measures to predict and prevent cybercrimes.

Given the rapidly growing internet user base in the country, it's no surprise that around 27,482 cases have been reported by the Indian Computer Emergency Response Teamfrom January to June. This includes ransomware, denial-of-service (DOS) attacks, site intrusions, phishing, as well as virus and Trojan attacks.

The cybercrime report for the last three-and-a-half years looks intimidating as it touches 1.71 lakh crime incidents. With 27,482 crimes reported so far this year, the predicted numbers are expected to reach 50,000 incidents by December.

"It is not just enough to make efforts at the government level, which is, in some sense happening, but cybercrime affects hundreds of individual systems and firms, all of whom need to be ready with specialised teams," said cybercrime expert Mirza Faizan Asad, according to Times of India.

Although ransomware threats have largely been touted to be of Chinese origin, hundreds of systems have been affected globally every year. With Bitcoin aka crypto-currency being treated as the safest form of receiving ransom, perpetrators behind the ransomware attack could be seeking refuge with IP spoofing tactics and thereby avoid being caught online.

Consequently, Supreme Court has issued a directive asking RBI to take stock of the situation and control the misuse of Bitcoin currency for illicit purposes such as stealing someone's precious data for a ransom.

Windows 10 OS upgrade to prevent cyberattacks

In the wake of recent cyberattacks, the Narendra Modi government had urged Microsoft for a one-time special discount on Windows 10 OS upgrade. This move gains precedence as the country is plagued with pirated versions of Windows, which could make computers too vulnerable to cyberattacks.

With an estimated 50 million Windows users in the country and only a small percentage of them running the latest Windows 10 OS, the government is too keen on protecting these computers from rampant cyber attacks.

"It will be a one-time upgrade offer to Windows 10 and it will be a discounted price for the entire country," said Rai who has been appointed as the country's first cyber security chief by India's PM Narendra Modi.

"New OS versions have different architecture, much-improved architecture and much more resiliency," added Rai while explaining the advantages of migrating to the new Windows OS.