Who is affected by cyber crime?
Each year, the number of cyber crimes reported across the country continues to increase at a significant pace. The nature of crimes, on the other hand, ranged from petty online frauds to lottery scams and sexual harassment. Sectors such as IT, healthcare, manufacturing, and finance, were most vulnerable to cybercrime. Additionally, small scale businesses were likely targets of cybercriminals, given that only 24 percent of all Indian companies adequately prepared to take on cyber attacks.Despite the private sector bearing the brunt of crime online, government agencies have also experienced espionage. One such security breach was that involving India’s unique citizen identification system- the Aadhaar, compromising extensive personal information including bank details, address and biometrics of over a billion Indians. In 2023, alone, the cost of data breaches surged over two million U.S. dollars in the country.