A recent study by Symantec, a security management solutions provider, has found that 66 per cent of enterprises have experienced cyber attacks in the past 12 months. According to the study, in India alone, the attacks have cost enterprises an average of Rs 60 lakh in lost revenues besides losses due to loss of confidential or proprietary data and productivity.

For instance, Wipro recently saw a case of cyber attack wherein an employee siphoned off $4 million from the company’s bank account by accessing a colleague’s password. The study also found that 42 per cent of the Indian enterprises rate cyber attack as their top concern, more than traditional crimes, natural disasters and terrorism. The study surveyed 2,100 enterprises worldwide, including 100 from India.

Vishal Dhupar, MD of Symantec India, said, “Enterprise security is becoming more difficult due to factors such as new IT initiatives by the companies and lack of required manpower. Organisations need to protect their infrastructure by securing their endpoints, messaging and web environments. Defending internal servers and implementing the ability to back up and recover data should be priorities.”

“Even as cyber attacks are likely to get more sophisticated, organisations need to develop and enforce IT policies and automate their compliance processes,” Dhupar added. Over 51 per cent of the enterprises have not implemented any data loss prevention system yet, it said.