India’s G20 Summit website experienced an unparalleled wave of cyber attacks last year, with government reports uncovering a staggering 26,000 attempts detected per second, underscoring the escalating challenge to online security.
CEO Rajesh Kumar of the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), speaking at the annual press conference, disclosed, “In one minute, 16 lakh attacks were seen on the G20 website on the day of the summit… It started soon after the website was up and peaked during the summit, but all the agencies such as CERT-IN, the National Informatics Centre, and the I4C worked together and prevented it from happening.”
Established by the Ministry of Home Affairs, I4C serves as a framework and ecosystem for law enforcement agencies, facilitating coordinated efforts to combat cybercrime comprehensively.
Kumar refrained from divulging specifics about the attackers or the origins of the attacks, citing that such information falls within CERT-IN’s jurisdiction, the national nodal agency for responding to computer security incidents.
The eastern and southern regions of the country emerge as primary hubs for cyber-enabled financial frauds. Kumar highlighted that “Customer Care number, refund-based frauds, KYC, expiry” collectively contribute to 35 percent of the total fraud. Additionally, ‘sextortion,’ primarily originating from Mevat, constitutes 24 percent of the total cybercrime. Furthermore, online booking and fake franchisee QR code-based financial frauds account for 22 percent of the total cyber frauds originating from India.
In shedding light on cybercriminal activities, officials revealed that approximately 50 percent of cyber-attacks are attributed to gangs operating from Cambodia, Vietnam, China, and other countries.
