In the Gurgaon province of India alone, police have on record over 400 cyber crime reports for the first half of 2013. That’s more than for the whole of 2012. Cyber crime is becoming a major problem in the region, and in the rest of the country as well. There is no increase in the number of victims, but the number of attacks on the same victims accounts for the increase in reports.
Who Are at Risk
Hackers are going after networks known to have security weaknesses that have not been properly patched. The majority of the victims house data, which is what the hackers are after. Identity theft and intellectual property theft has become big business in India. But IT and data warehouse businesses do not have the proper infrastructure in place to secure the data of their clients.
Since India is a major hub for outsourced data warehousing services and the IT/BPO industry, the parties truly affected are their international clients and the individual customers these clients service. The scope of cyber threats to India therefore have a global effect.Multinational companies have been investing in India for many years now because of the wealth of talent and opportunities available in the country. It seems they did not anticipate that they would also find talented hackers and create opportunities for them.
Rampant cyber crime in the country puts many individuals at risk because of the number of privately owned computers belonging to hacker botnets. India is fast becoming one of the top three countries with the largest network of hacker-controlled computers and servers. With everyone potentially at risk due to the vast botnet, individual internet security tools are the only safety measure that can prevent expansion of this network.
Steps to greater Security
The question is now not why Indian Internet users need a VPN service for security, but which service they can depend on. The quality of a VPN service depends on the system it is securing and the power that system has to run it. For light data encryption needs on slower Internet connections, HappyVPN, Mullvad, SecurityKISS, and Boxpn VPN are good solutions. For higher data and traffic encryption that requires speed, OpenVPN and SSTP are preferred for desktops and mobile phones respectively. Please see our list of the top ten providers of high security VPN services for the details on these providers.
The nature of job availability in India puts a large percentage of the population in front of computers connected to the Internet. For the IT/BPO outsourcing industry alone, the risk of network hacks is greater than any other country. With the current sophistication of hacker attack techniques, office personnel are some of the most vulnerable. Apart from direct attacks on businesses, the use of personal devices on office networks is often the source of the original infection. The modified viruses are very difficult to detect and quickly spread to all devices that access the network.
VPN protection for personal devices is a very important step in preventing the spread of these under-cover viruses. By limiting the infections on mobile phones and tablets, the rate of infection within office networks can be greatly reduced. Several leading VPNs have quality apps compatible with portable devices. Using our simple comparison tool, users can find an appropriate VPN mobile app for any device.
Anyone transacting or communicating with businesses or individuals located in India are also at risk. Personal VPN protection can shield them from data theft, malware infection, and other attacks that put them in danger. VPN services provide reliable data and traffic encryption for a lower cost than most other Internet security solutions. A VPN can effectively prevent any unauthorized person from viewing sensitive information that can be used for theft or in the perpetration of email phishing and social engineering schemes.
With a VPN, users will enjoy security for all Internet communications, not just web browsing. Applications used for instant messaging and VoIP calls will benefit from the data and traffic encryption. Users will also be able to hide their IP addresses by using a secure IP provided by the VPN server that they are connected to. A big plus for those who like to browse a lot of content is the absence of limitations for geo-restricted content. The VPN can also bypass censorship restrictions and firewalls. Unlimited access with unlimited speed and bandwidth are offered by the top indian VPN services so users can fully enjoy the freedom without worry that VPNs can provide.
