It's now thought that up to 65% of emails are spam
India has been named as the top country for receiving the highest amount of spam emails.
The country is getting more spam than countries such as America and Brazil.
Cisco conducted their 2017 Annual Cybersecurity Report and found the surprising results. They calculated how much email countries receive counts as spam.
Their results showed, out of 100 emails, the percentages of spam are as follows:
- India: 85%
- Brazil: 57%
- Mexico: 54%
Overall, Cisco found that spam emails have increased on a global scale. The volume of spam emails has grown massively to a scale not since seen 2010. It’s now thought that up to 65% of emails are spam. And out of those spam emails, 8/10 are malicious.
The report also suggests that businesses are in a potentially vulnerable state. 75% of those investigated were infected by harmful adware or software that downloaded unauthorised advertising.
This news will be a big blow to both Indian and worldwide businesses. India is currently making the big transition to digital transactions. However, hacking has made this a difficult journey.
In October 2016, attackers potentially hacked 32 lakh ATM cards. The Indian cards belonged to ICICI Bank and SBI. Banks recalled the cards, as some victims reported unauthorised usage. They claim the unauthorised usage came from China.
At the time, reports suggested that attackers hacked cards due to a breach in digital technology. There could have been a potential malware in Hitachi Payment Services. Hitachi Payment Services provides Indian ATM machines and mobile transactions.
These cyber attacks mean dangerous news for businesses. Cisco found in their report that businesses who experienced a security breach claimed loss of customers and revenue of over 20%. Businesses can potentially suffer a huge amount of financial losses. In some cases, it may even cost the entire business.
Cisco also reported that hacking has developed significantly in 2016, and is becoming “corporate”:
“[Hackers] employ new approaches that mirror the ‘middle management’ structure of their corporate targets. Certain malvertising campaigns employed brokers (or gates) that act as middle managers, masking malicious activity.”
Therefore, the global report has identified several areas in why businesses are falling prey to attacks. These include budget, lack of training and complex security systems. All of these can create gaps in security, which are perfect opportunities for hacking.
With hacking becoming sophisticated and complex, businesses need to ensure their security leaves no gaps. Spam emails can be the beginning of an aggressive cyber attack.
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