According to a new analysis by a start-up that was incubated by IIT Kanpur, financial frauds accounted for over 75% of cyber crimes in the nation between January 2020 and June 2023, with about 50% of incidents using UPI and online banking.
Concepts of hacking, darkweb, and darknet. hacker carrying a phone. Man utilising a smartphone and the dark web. Cybersecurity danger, internet scam, and mobile phone fraud. Thief with a pilfered phone. Code for AR data. (Source: Shutterstock)
Concepts of hacking, darkweb, and darknet. hacker carrying a phone. Man utilising a smartphone and the dark web. Cybersecurity danger, internet scam, and mobile phone fraud. Thief with a pilfered phone. Code for AR data. (Source: Shutterstock)
According to the report, 12 percent of online offences during that time were tied to social media, including email phishing, sexting, cyberbullying, and impersonation cheating.
The most recent detailed whitepaper titled ‘A Deep Dive into Cybercrime Trends Impacting India’ was released by the non-profit start-up, Future Crime Research Foundation (FCRF), which is housed at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Kanpur.
The FCRF stated that “this category is a dominant concern, covering fraudulent activities related to online financial transactions” in reference to online financial frauds, which made up the maximum 77.41 percent of offences during the time.
“Subcategories include debit/credit card fraud, business email compromise, internet banking-related fraud, and the alarmingly prevalent UPI (Unified Payments Interface) fraud (47.25 per cent)” , added the statement.
According to the FCRF, these numbers highlight the necessity of strong cyber security measures to protect online financial transactions.
As to the whitepaper, crimes connected to social media made up 12.02 percent of online offences.
“A wide range of offences connected to social media and internet platforms are included in this category. This domain has subcategories for sexting, email phishing, cyberbullying, imitation cheating, and more. It said that while impersonation and cyberbullying constituted sizable percentages, email phishing and inflammatory rhetoric intended to incite illegal activity had a relatively less effect.
According to the FCRF, “other notable categories” accounted for 9% of all online crimes. These categories include ransomware, online gambling, online cyber-trafficking, cryptocurrency crime, and cyber-terrorism, among other types of cybercrime with lower but still noteworthy percentages.
The report, which outlined the many strategies hackers employ to target digital infrastructure, also noted that 1.57% of online crimes included hacking or system damage, including unauthorised access, data breaches, email hacking, and website defacement or hacking.
Law enforcement organisations, people, companies, and legislators must all be aware of how cybercrimes are evolving in India. Harshvardhan Singh, a co-founder of FCRF, stated, “This report not only illustrates the prevalence of cybercrimes but also emphasises the need for cooperative efforts to combat these threats.”
Singh stated that “as technology continues to advance, so do the tactics of cybercriminals, making it essential for all stakeholders to stay informed and vigilant”.
Source: Hindustan Times