Year: 2022

Commvault, a recognised global enterprise company in intelligent data services across on-premises, cloud, and software as a service (SaaS) environment, recently announced an excellent momentum for its SaaS division Metallic in India since it was made available in the country three quarters ago. Metallic’s rapid growth in India is a testament of the successful collaboration between Commvault and Microsoft, offering two cloud technologies – Microsoft Azure and Metallic SaaS – to meet the need for proven data protection backed by powerful scale and multi-layered security for Indian enterprises. One of the key reasons behind Metallic’s success is that it was built in the cloud, using the best of Azure’s native capabilities while leveraging Commvault’s enterprise technology – the same technology stack that large enterprises have entrusted to protect their mission-critical apps and data. Additionally, with features such as air-gapping and eDiscovery, Metallic enhances protection of data across SaaS offerings, such as Microsoft 365, Microsoft Dynamics 365 and more, in the case of accidental deletion, corruption and malicious attacks, in the cloud and beyond. “As the threat landscape continues to evolve, it is imperative to support our customers with holistic data protection solutions in their digital transformation journey. Benefitting from the secure and hyperscale cloud capabilities of Microsoft Azure, Metallic SaaS delivers a powerful solution for storing and protecting business-critical data for enterprise organizations. Our joint customers are already beginning to witness tremendous value through the collaboration between Commvault and Microsoft,” said Aditee Rele, Director – ISV, Global Partner Solutions, Microsoft India. Since its global launch two years ago, Metallic has experienced amazing growth and accomplished what most start-ups would dream of: Rapid-fire portfolio expansion – more than tripling our offerings from global launch. Growing from 1M to $50M ARR in six quarters. Expansion to serve more than 2,000 customers, with availability in more than 30 countries around the globe. Launched an access programme for ThreatWise, the company’s new offering following its acquisition of TrapX. In India, several customers including IndiGrid, Indiassetz, Marcellus and India Glycols, among others have highly gained from its association with Metallic to move fast, stay agile, and put security first as they modernize their business. “Commvault delivers a structured backup and recovery solution, which is both fast, reliable, simple to manage. In today’s hyper connected world, it’s not just the product that holds fort for us, it’s support and expert services are equally important to drive adoption. Commvault team has been engaging, responsive and trustworthy, supporting us to achieve desired business outcomes. Using Commvault, we have not only seen a three-fold improved productivity of the infrastructure team but also minimized security risks, address regulatory compliances through a robust data strategy”, said Atul Govil, Chief Transformation Officer & Head (SAP & IT), – Corporate, India Glycols Ltd. “Metallic is an easy-to-learn, easy-to-implement and easy-touse solution. We especially liked its simplified interface and unlimited storage across endpoint backups, Microsoft 365 and Salesforce, ensuring our data is always available and rapidly recoverable, even in case of a disaster,” shared Siddharth Joshi, Technology Head, Marcellus. Vinay Khot, Chief Technology Officer, Indiassetz, commented, “With silent backup and granular restores, Metallic Endpoint Protection secures laptop data without impacting our Employee Productivity.” “Metallic is what I would call, the best of both worlds. Its virtual air-gapped infrastructure and a built-in Zero Trust approach delivers uncompromised data security while a predictable subscription model ensures long-term savings, with no capex investments”, said Aryan Panchal, Chief Digital Officer, IndiGrid. Balaji Rao Area Vice President, India and SAARC, Commvault “Data is an enterprise’s crown jewel, and the demand for a powerful data management solution is at an alltime high. Metallic has proven to be a game-changer in this dynamic business landscape in India, with our customers tackling even the most complex data problems with ease. Through our collaboration with Microsoft, we will continue to empower enterprises with innovative and trusted solutions” Metallic, A Commvault venture, was established to bring next-generation software-asa-service (SaaS) data protection to the market, delivering Commvault’s powerful core technology simply through the cloud. Together with its partners, Metallic offers a growing portfolio of SaaS backup and recovery solutions to help today’s companies keep their data protected, compliant and safe from deletion, corruption and attack. Metallic operates as a division of Commvault. Commvault believes in data readiness. Commvault helps organizations of all sizes intelligently manage data through solutions that store, protect, manage and use their most critical asset – their data. Commvault software, solutions and services are available from the company and through a global ecosystem of trusted partners. Commvault employs more than 2,300 highly-skilled individuals across markets worldwide.  

Over 50 million passwords stolen in 7 months of 2022 Underground market value of stolen logs and compromised card details around US$5.8 million India saw the highest number of infected devices in the Asia Pacific, followed closely by Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam Group-IB, one of the leading global players in cybersecurity, has identified 34 Russian-speaking groups that are distributing info-stealing malware under the stealer-as-a-service model. The cybercriminals use mainly Racoon and Redline stealers to obtain passwords for gaming accounts on Steam and Roblox, credentials for Amazon and PayPal, as well as users’ payment records and crypto wallet credentials. In the first seven months of 2022, the gangs collectively infected over 890,000 user devices and stole over 50mn passwords. All the identified groups orchestrate their attacks through Russian-language Telegram groups, although they mainly target users in the United States, Brazil, India, Germany, and Indonesia. In 2022, info-stealing malware has grown into one of the most serious digitalthreats. Classiscam graduates By tracking the evolution of the popular scam scheme Classiscam, Group-IB Digital Risk Protection analysts revealed how some ‘workers’ (lowrank online scammers) started shifting to a more dangerous criminal scheme that involves distributing info stealers. Moreover, the illicit business of stealers, which is coordinated via Telegram groups, uses exactly the same operational model as Classiscam An info stealer is a type of malware that collects credentials stored in browsers (including gaming accounts, email services, and social media), bank card details, and crypto wallet information from infected computers, and then sends all this data to the malware operator. After a successful attack, the scammers either obtain money themselves using the stolen data, or they sell the stolen information in the cybercriminal underground. According to Group-IB, stealers are one of the top threats to watch in the coming year. The threat actor responsible for the most recent attack on Uber purchased the credentials compromised with the Racoon stealer. According to the Group-IB Digital Risk Protection team, (part of the Unified Risk Platform), the mass Telegram groups and bots designed to distribute info stealers first appeared in early 2021. By investigating a number of accounts, Group-IB analysts were able to confirm that members of several scam groups that previously participated in the Classiscam scheme began using stealers. In 2021 and 2022, Group-IB experts identified 34 active groups on Telegram. On average, such info stealer distribution groups have around 200 active members. The most popular stealer among the groups examined by Group-IB is RedLine, which is used by 23 out of 34 gangs. Racoon ranks second: 8 groups employ this tool. Custom stealers are used in 3 communities. Administrators usually give workers both RedLine and Racoon in exchange for a share of the stolen data or money. However, the malware in question is offered for rent on the dark web for $150-200 per month. Some groups use 3 stealers at the same time, while others have only one stealer in their arsenal. Having switched from scamming users of classified websites to stealers, some threat actors reproduced not only the hierarchy and model of Classiscam, but also its technical capabilities. In particular, Telegram bots that generate malicious content, communication between members, and all their shady accounting. The tasks of workers, the scammers of the lower-ranks, have also changed – they must now drive traffic to bait scam websites impersonating well-known companies and convince victims to download malicious files. Cybercriminals embed links for downloading stealers into video reviews of popular games on YouTube, into mining software or NFT files on specialized forums and direct communication with NFT artists, and into lucky draws and lotteries on social media. Telegram Stealers world tour Group-IB estimates that between March 1 (when Group-IB started researching the scheme) and December 31, 2021 stealers operated via Telegram groups were able to compromise 538,000 devices. In the first 7 months of 2022, Telegram stealers were found to be almost twice more active infecting more than 890,000 devices in 111 countries. The top 5 most often attacked countries in 2022 were the United States, Brazil, India, Germany, and Indonesia with 91,565, 86,043, 53,988, 40,750, and 35,345 infected devices respectively. List of countries in Asia Pacific by the number of infected devices include India, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam and Singapore. In India for example, from March to December 2021, the operators of the stealers in question infected 19,249 devices. In the first seven months of 2022, the number grew to 53,988. Scammers were able to retrieve 4,547,020 passwords, 4,657 sets of payment records, and 4,428 sets of crypto wallet information such as credentials, seed phrases, etc. Indonesia closely follows with a total of 35,345 infected devices and where scammers were able to retrieve 2,372,893 passwords. The Philippines recorded a total of 31,745 infected devices and Vietnam with a total of 22,739 devices infected and scammers retrieving 2,032,278 passwords. Australia had 5,794 devices infected and 549,640 passwords retrieved by scammers. Singapore saw 2,179 devices infected, with 185,689 passwords retrieved. According to the analysis of Telegram groups, for the last 10 months of 2021 cybercriminals collected 27,875,879 sets of passwords, 1,215,532,572 cookie files, 56,779 sets of payment records, and data from 35,791 crypto wallets. In the first 7 months of 2022, threat actors stole 50,352,518 passwords, 2,117,626,523 cookie files, details of 103,150 bank cards, and data from 113,204 crypto wallets. The underground market value of just the stolen logs and compromised card details is around $5.8 million, Group-IB experts estimate. According to Group-IB, in 2021, threat actors worldwide most frequently collected PayPal account credentials (more than 25%) and Amazon credentials (more than 18%). In 2022, the most targeted services are the same, namely PayPal (more than 16%) and Amazon (more than 13%). However, over the course of the year, cases of stealing passwords for gaming services (Steam, EpicGames, Roblox) in the logs have increased almost five-fold. “The influx of a huge number of workers into the popular scam Classiscam – which Group-IB’s Unified Risk Platformidentified, at its peak, comprised over a thousand criminal groups and hundreds of thousands of…

PLI awardee and Indian ODM Sahasra Electronics signed MoU with DLI awardee Samriddhi Automations Pvt. Ltd. (Sparsh CCTV), India’s leading Indian CCTV and surveillance systems designer and manufacturer, to supply made in India memory chips and solid-state drives. A major development in India’s aspiration to become self-sufficient in semiconductors, this MoU between Sparsh and Sahasra is a validation of the GoI’s strategy to promote electronic manufacturing through the PLI program. Sahasra is setting up a state-ofthe-art plant with Japanese/ Taiwanese technology for OSAT of semiconductor ICs. In Phase-I Sahasra will focus on memory ICs and memory Subsystems. Memory semiconductors constitute 20% by value of the $550 BN semiconductor market and set to grow to 3x% of $1.0 TN semiconductor market by 2030. Speaking on the occasion Sanjeev Sehgal, MD Sparsh said, “This is the next step in designed and made in India security system, where memory and storage semiconductor will be of Made in India.” He highlighted that in the six layers of cyber security, hardware assurance is the first and most critical level that needs to be fulfilled. Sparsh is committed and working towards full backward in tegration, achieved more than 85% domestic value addition (VA) as per PPP-MII Policy and now working towards Atmanirbhar Bharat on semiconductors. With India already a major center for semiconductor design, this capability being set up by Sahasra will soon see designed and made in India semiconductors being shipped out. Speaking on the occasion Amrit Manwani, CMD, Sahasra Semiconductors said we will commence manufacturing next month with Micro SD & SD cards. Once the production stabilises we plan to move up the value chain to NAND Flash BGA and eMMC & eMCP packaging. This will enable the memory product OEMs to source memories locally that will be truly ‘Made in India.’ The memories will be used in pen drives, SSDs, mobile phones, laptops, desktops and tablets. Sparsh has launched IP cameras and recorders with in-built memory, bringing in next-generation products in video surveillance domain. In a MoU signing ceremony hosted by ELCINA at Delhi and graced by senior officials from MEITY and India Semiconductor Mission, Joint Secretary Amitesh Kumar Sinha, said that this is a major development for the country on its journey to ATMA Nirbharta in Semiconductors. To give further impetus to the industry in this mission, he added that the GoI will soon be coming out with schemes to attract more Semiconductor FABs and OSATs into the country.  

The 32nd Annual Global Conclave of the International Institute of Security and Safety Management was held on 18th and 19th of November 2022 in a Hybrid Mode. The venue for the physical part of the Conclave was Hotel Crowne Plaza, Okhla, New Delhi. In addition, many speakers and participants joined in the virtual mode. The theme of the Conclave for this year was ‘Security, Safety & Loss Prevention: Enablers for Nation Building.’ The Conclave during its two days had four keynote speakers and four panel discussions on contemporary topics. The inauguration ceremony commenced with the National Anthem and the traditional lighting of the lamp. S K Sharma extended a hearty welcome to all the guests, speakers, delegates, and other dignitaries for attending the conclave. He appreciated the efforts of the team IISSM for inviting the best of minds across the globe and expressed his best wishes for the grand success of the deliberations which were to be conducted over the next two days. Thereafter, R K Sinha Former MP (Rajya Sabha) and Executive Chairman – IISSM, gave an insight into the genesis leading to the establishment of IISSM. He enumerated the role of IISSM and thanked the Late K N Prasad, Padma Shri for his guidance in establishing IISSM and seeing it through its primitive years. He highlighted the following aspects: The need to promote growth in as much as to understand the problem and thereafter, find workable solutions. IISSM in its last 32 years has trained thousands of professionals and continues to do so to enable professionals benefiting from these Training Programmes to enable them to carry out their job in a better way. Rajan Medhekar, IPS (Retd.), former DG, NSG and currently the DG, IISSM proposed a vote of thanks, thanking R K Sinha for sparing his valuable time despite a very heavy official schedule to inaugurate IISSM Annual Global Conclave 2022. He also thanked all the dignitaries and delegates for their support. This was followed by the keynote address by PM Heblikar, Director, Maxgrid Securicor (India) Limited and former Special Secretary, Government of India on the topic ‘Role of Security, Safety and Loss Prevention in Nation Building.’ He highlighted the need for viewing security at a macro level and not through a narrow prism. In addition, the new normal as an outcome of the Corona Virus Pandemic 2019 and the recent Russian-Ukraine war affecting global security. Thereby, highlighting the need for the Private Security Industries to shoulder additional responsibilities for better security, safety, and loss prevention. This was followed by a Panel discussion on ‘Role of Security, Safety and Loss Prevention in National Growth,” moderated by Shankar Subramnian with 4 eminent panelists. The panel member highlighted that security and safety must lie at the heart of a nation to ensure prosperity. There was a need for involving the citizens in more activities for supporting the Government and other agencies in ensuring a safe and secure ecosystem. The second keynote address was delivered by DC Pathak (IPS), (Retd); Former Director, Intelligence Bureau on – ‘Understanding Security, Safety and Loss Prevention.” He highlighted that technology should be taken as a force multiplier, since, information needs to be protected. He mentioned that approximately two-third of information breaches were due to the involvement of insiders. Next was panel discussion on the ‘Role of Security, Safety and Loss Prevention in National Growth,’ moderated by Col (Dr.) Inderjit Singh. The panelists highlighted how digital transformation had changed the concept of security, wherein, the army does not have to physically invade countries, thereby, shifting the battlefields down to mobile phones and the virtual arena. It was necessary to analyze and continually review the aspects of technology being used is safe. The second day of Conclave commenced with the keynote address by Jason L Brown, National Director, Thales, Australia & New Zealand. It was conducted online. Mr. Brown highlighted the strategy that needed to be developed, keeping in mind the relationship that a country is maintaining with the world. In addition, he highlighted the threats that have existed or can come to the fore in the future and the impacts that this would have on the businesses and the business environment. This was followed by a product presentation by Pushkar Gokhale, VP & Business Head, Godrej Security Solutions. He highlighted how his company was developing solutions in consultation with the customers for example a fogging system to blind burglars had been developed by Godrej Security Solutions to counter the burglary threat. Next panel discussion on ‘Cyber Security, Robotics and Drones in Security, Safety and Loss Prevention’ was moderated by Dr. MJ Shankar Raman, IIT Madras. The panel highlighted the need to cater to future threats and the technology required to be developed as countermeasures to defeat those threats. In addition, the scope and threats from drones, the use of artificial intelligence, and possible countermeasures were discussed. Post lunch the conclave commenced with the keynote address by David Cavanagh, Managing Director, Integrated Energy Private Limited and Chief Hydrogen Officer, Hydrogen West, Australia. Some of the aspects highlighted related to how to improve the efficiency in the functioning of smart cities. He highlighted the strategies and technologies required to improve the functioning of smart cities by using the internet of things and artificial intelligence technologies. The keynote address was followed by the fourth panel, which discussed ‘Management of Security, Safety and Loss Prevention in Smart Cities; Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats,’ moderated by Col Sumit Monga, Lenovo. The panelists highlighted that the culture of working in silos needs to be shed and stressed the need for integration of all the systems and services to draw maximum benefits. In addition, the need to balance between the opportunities and threats, viz-a-viz the privacy aspects must be done. The Valediction Ceremony of the 32nd IISSM Annual Global Conclave was done by R K Sinha who mentioned that the Conclave was conducted in the hybrid mode on an experimental basis. This experiment was found to be successful, since, in addition…

Recently, there has been much talk out ultra-high-definition solutions in the security market. More often than not, media has focused on 8K cameras. Nevertheless, a True 8K solution requires more than just UHD cameras. Hikvision stands out from the crowd by providing an all-encompassing solution powered by front- and backend products with 8K capabilities The trend toward clear, high-definition imaging As Hikvision predicted earlier this year in its Top 8 trends for the security industry in 2022, crystal clear imaging has continued to be a basic requirement in the security industry. The ability to zoom into large scenes to view exact details without loss of quality is crucial for security management. The enormous value in employing high-definition cameras with 8K resolution to ensure clear imaging in the case of security incidents cannot be overstated. 8K cameras come equipped with dedicated Image Signal Processors (ISPs) that convert RAW images from high-performance imaging sensors into high-quality images, as well as carry out various types of image processing effectively and effortlessly. ISP algorithms including de-mosaicing, de-noising, de-blurring, and sharpening all help to deliver enhanced imaging with reduced visual noise and well-preserved details. Nevertheless, even when 8K technology gives people an unprecedented capacity to get more detail from a scene, these resolutions come with tradeoffs – they require higher processing power than other forms because there’s so much information being processed at once. In addition, they also need storage devices compatible with the 8K standards to access, store, transfer, decode, and output videos, before video images can be viewed. Without 8K NVRs and displays, 8K cameras would just be superfluous. Hikvision’s all-encompassing 8K solution In order to deliver a ‘True 8K’ experience to users, Hikvision has developed a total solution, complete with 8K cameras, 8K NVRs, and 8K displays. Cameras such as the 32MP 360° Panoramic & PTZ Camera and 32MP 180° PanoVu Network Camera are capable of capturing ultra-high-resolution video images – specifically 7680×4320 pixels – which is four times the resolution of 4K and 16 times that of 1080p. At the back-end, Hikvision recently launched its M-Series NVRs to handle video access, storage, transfer, decoding, and rendering of 8K images. Videos can then be displayed on 8K LED screens made up of P0.9 Fine Pixel Pitch COB LED Display Units. The combination of these front and back-end products takes full advantage of the power of 8K technology, and offers a ‘True 8K’ experience with incredibly clear imaging with fluid preview and playback. But here is one of the most significant advantages to this solution – since 8K resolution displays images with intricate detail, it lays the foundation for more precise and efficient video analytics. With 8K imaging, AI recognition rates improve significantly, and video analytics provides security operators with highly accurate alerts and clear image detail, enhancing their ability to effectively intervene and take action when an incident occurs. In other words, the whole investment pays off better on every level. Even when videos are manually reviewed for real-time monitoring or post-incident investigation, the ultra-clear, true-to-life 8K visuals provide images that are rich in detail, improving security operators’ target identification ability, providing them the most accurate evidence available to investigate and promptly respond to an event. A total solution that serves users from all kinds of industries With such powerful front and back-end products, Hikvision’s all-encompassing 8K solution gives customers an extremely clear and detailed visual experience in all kinds of scenarios. The solution significantly boosts video content analysis, forensic evidence gathering, security staff resources, and more. The LED display products provide a more vivid – even stunning – visual experience, as 8K cameras and 8K NVRs are used in both indoor and outdoor spaces such as airports, harbors, public halls, squares, stadiums, stations etc., where wider angles of view, and sharper, more detailed images are required. They empower users from all kinds of industries with the capacity to zoom into large scenes to view strikingly realistic details without quality loss.