Cyber Expert: India a Partner in Fighting Cyber Terrorism
As the threats in cyberspace continue to grow, India will work to combat the threats of cyber terrorism and cyber crime, according to a cybersecurity expert working for an Indian outsourcing firm.
Clifford Gregory, senior VP (security solutions) of IonIdea, said India is and will remain one of the United States’ key partners in defending cyberspace. Gregory is a former member of the U.S. military who worked on a variety of cyber-related assignments.
“Each malware attack costs a company $70K, while lost or stolen hardware costs amounts to $300K,” Gregory said in an interview with the Times of India. “Spear Phishing (specific target) costs $500K, damage by disgruntled employees cost a neat one million each, resulting in a $5 million tag when you destroy a brand. These cost figures are averages. If your company is dependent on data regarding customers, the loss could be multiplied.”
Within India, Gregory has noticed some gaps in the IT security infrastructure.
“One is access control specifically knowing the person logged onto the system with access to customer data was the person who was authorised to do so and we felt that companies should adopt either multi-factor authentication or direct observation via CCTV to provide this level of assurance,” he said. “Two, was in the area of information transit. Some vendors made great efforts to protect data within their networks, but simply did not consider what might happen while the information was in transit.”
“The third gap was in data leakage private or non-public personal information that is sent via email or other means, especially as part of a call center process or part of the software development testing process,” he added.
The effects of an attack on Wall Street and the financial sector could be particularly devestating, Gregory said.
“India is one of US’s greatest allies, in combating cyber terrorism, and the opportunity could only get bigger,” he said. “President Obama sees the threat and I am certain he understands that while an attack may be directed against Wall Street, the effect would be felt in every major financial markets in the world.”