Month: June 2023

Himanshu Gautam, Technical Director – West & South India, Radware The BFSI (Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance) sector has seen rapid adoption of digital transformation tools, which has made the sector vulnerable to intense, evolving and repeated cybersecurity attacks from threat actors. CERTIn’s report said that just in the 1st half of 2022 the number of ransomware attacks rose by 51% when compared to 2021. India has been one of the leading countries in going digital with the BFSI sector taking the lead. But this means the vertical should protect the data associated with its customers as trust is the No. 1 factor that needs to be considered. The BFSI sector handles sensitive and confidential information of its customers such as financial transactions, personal details, and credit scores. Therefore, ensuring data security is crucial to maintain customer trust and protecting them from potential threats. But why is data security of utmost importance for the BFSI sector? BFSI institutions hold valuable data, making them a prime target for cybercriminals. Data breaches can lead to identity theft, financial fraud and reputational damage. This is why they must comply with various regulations such as the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Non-compliance can result in hefty fines and legal actions. If this is not met and cyberattacks are countered then they compromise financial assets, leading to monetary losses for both the institution and its customers. The BFSI sector is highly competitive and maintaining data security can be a competitive advantage. Customers are more likely to trust institutions that prioritize data security. Data breaches can erode customer trust, leading to reputational damage and loss of business. To stay immune to the threats, its necessary to know some common security threats: Phishing attacks. Ransomware attacks. Insider threats. DDoS attacks. Social engineering attacks. Third-party risks. To fight these cyberattack methods the individual players in the sector need to take the necessary measures. By following these measures, the BFSI sector can secure its data and protect against cyber threats. It is important to stay vigilant and proactive in order to ensure the safety and security of sensitive financial data. Implement strong access controls: Limit access to sensitive data only to those who need it. Use multi-factor authentication, strong passwords, and other security protocols to ensure that only authorized personnel can access data. Encrypt data: Use encryption to protect data both in transit and at rest. This will make it more difficult for cybercriminals to steal data if they manage to gain access. Monitor and detect: Monitor the network and systems for suspicious activity and detect potential threats early to prevent data breaches. Implement intrusion detection and prevention systems to identify and block unauthorized access. Implement cybersecurity policies and procedures: Develop and implement cybersecurity policies and procedures to ensure that all employees understand their roles and responsibilities in maintaining data security. Regularly test and update systems: Regularly test and update systems to ensure that they are secure and up to date with the latest security patches and updates. Conduct employee training and awareness programs: Conduct regular training and awareness programs to educate employees on how to identify and prevent cybersecurity threats. Have a disaster recovery plan: Develop a disaster recovery plan that includes a backup and recovery strategy in case of a data breach or other security incident. Failure to comply with data security can lead to severe consequences for the BFSI sector. Legal penalties are levied when BFSI organizations fail to comply with data security regulations. These penalties can be significant and may result in monetary losses for the organization. They suffer from a loss of reputation. Legal penalties can result in financial losses for BFSI organizations. Apart from legal fees, losses can arise from regulatory fines, customer compensation and reputational damage. Data breaches and security incidents can damage the reputation of BFSI organizations, eroding customer trust and confidence. A tarnished reputation can lead to reduced business opportunities and revenue losses. Security incidents can disrupt the operations of BFSI organizations, causing significant downtime and loss of productivity. This can lead to delays in customer service, impacting customer satisfaction and loyalty. Also, non-compliance with data security can increase the vulnerability of BFSI organizations to cyberattacks. This can lead to data breaches and other security incidents, resulting in the consequences outlined above. These aspects of data and security in the BFSI sector prove that trust is an exceptional factor for customers. Overall, compliance with data security regulations is essential for the BFSI sector to protect sensitive customer data, maintain trust and confidence, and avoid the severe consequences of non-compliance. Radware® is a global company in cyber security and application delivery solutions for physical, cloud, and software-defined data centers. Its award-winning solutions portfolio secures the digital experience by providing infrastructure, application, and corporate IT protection, and availability services to enterprises globally. Radware’s solutions empower enterprise and carrier customers worldwide to adapt to market challenges quickly, maintain business continuity, and achieve maximum productivity while keeping costs down.  

Visionbot™ – the pioneer in Cloud AI to launch its appliance for EDGE AI The Importance of Automated Visual Monitoring with Edge AI and Cloud Reporting for Enterprise Analysis Prakash Prabhu – Chief Business Officer & Co-Founder, VisionBot VisionBot was incorporated with a focus to address the demand for Video driven Digital Enterprise. VisionBot AI enabled Computer Vision helps analyse & augment performance of workflow processes and enables improvement of overall Operational efficiency of an Enterprise. Generative AI will be the adopted tool for generating adaptive video content to boost engagement and drive collaboration across enterprises and social interactions. The reality of Video becoming the primary driver of the creator economy is inevitable and Visionbot™ intends to be in the forefront of the technology curve.Visionbot™ is one inclusive platform which encompasses Cloud Computer Vision, Subscription AI, Video Forensics, Cloud Storage and Streaming (Media/ Video Collaboration/ Digital content) and Generative AI for the creator economy. 1.1  What is Edge AI? Edge AI is the deployment of AI applications in devices throughout the physical world. It’s called ‘edge AI’ because the AI computation is done near the user at the edge of the network, close to where the data is located, rather than centrally in a cloud. Advances in edge AI have opened opportunities for machines and devices, wherever they may be, to operate with the ‘intelligence’ of human cognition. AI-enabled smart applications learn to perform similar tasks under different circumstances, much like real life. The efficacy of deploying AI models at the edge arises from three recent innovations. Maturation of neural computing: Neural networks and related AI infrastructure have finally developed to the point of allowing for generalized machine learning. Availability of no of trained datasets for computer vision. Advances in compute infrastructure: Powerful distributed computational power is required to run AI at the edge. VisionBot edge application can be on CPU, GPU or CPU+GPU. Adoption of IoT devices: The widespread adoption of the Internet of Everything has fuelled the explosion of big data. With the sudden ability to collect data in every aspect of a business – from industrial sensors, smart cameras, automation systems and more – we now have the data and devices necessary to deploy AI models at the edge. 1.2 Why deploy AI at the Edge? What are the benefits of Edge AI? Edge AI represents a paradigm shift in the way visual monitoring is implemented. It involves the deployment of AI algorithms and models directly on edge devices, such as cameras, sensors, or gateways, allowing data analysis to be performed locally without relying solely on cloud infrastructure. This local analysis brings several significant advantages. Since AI algorithms are capable of understanding video, sounds, and other sensor inputs which are forms of unstructured information. These AI applications would be challenging or even impossible to deploy in a centralized cloud or enterprise data center due to issues related to latency, bandwidth and privacy. 1.3 What are the benefits of Edge AI & Cloud Reporting? The benefits of edge AI include: Localized Intelligence: AI applications are more powerful and flexible than conventional applications. Real-time Insights: Since edge technology analyzes data locally rather than in a faraway cloud delayed by long-distance communications, it responds to users’ needs in real time. Reduced Cost: By bringing processing power closer to the edge, applications need less internet bandwidth, greatly reducing networking costs. Increased Privacy: Edge AI further enhances privacy by containing that data locally, uploading only the analysis and insights to the cloud. Even if some of the data is uploaded for training purposes, it can be anonymized to protect user identities. By preserving privacy, edge AI simplifies the challenges associated with data regulatory compliance. High Availability: Decentralization and offline capabilities make edge AI more robust since internet access is not required for processing data. This results in higher availability and reliability for mission-critical, production-grade AI applications. Persistent Improvement: AI models grow increasingly accurate as they train on more data. When an edge AI application confronts data that it cannot accurately or confidently process, it typically uploads it so that the AI can retrain and learn from it. Reduced Latency: By processing visual data at the edge, near the source of its generation, edge AI minimizes latency, ensuring real-time insights and prompt action. This is particularly critical for time-sensitive applications, such as security monitoring, where immediate responses are crucial to prevent potential risks or threats. Bandwidth Optimization: Transmitting large volumes of visual data to the cloud for analysis can strain network bandwidth and result in increased costs. Edge AI reduces the amount of data that needs to be transmitted by performing initial analysis locally and sending only relevant information to the cloud. This optimization of bandwidth allows for cost-effective and efficient data transmission. Cloud Reporting for Enterprise Access: While local analysis provides immediate insights and enables real-time decision-making, cloud reporting complements edge AI by providing comprehensive and centralized access to visual monitoring data. Centralized Data Management: Cloud reporting allows enterprises to store, manage, and analyze visual monitoring data from multiple edge devices in a centralized manner. This centralized approach facilitates holistic analysis, cross-device comparisons, and long-term. Scalability and Flexibility: Cloud-based platforms provide the scalability required to accommodate growing datasets and increasing demand for visual monitoring. Enterprises can easily expand their infrastructure and adapt to evolving needs without the limitations of on-premises solutions. Cloud reporting also enables remote access, empowering stakeholders to monitor operations and make informed decisions from anywhere at any time. Advanced Analytics and AI: Cloud reporting platforms often integrate advanced analytics and AI capabilities, enabling enterprises to leverage powerful algorithms and models for deeper insights and predictive analytics. By combining local edge AI analysis with cloud-based AI, organizations can unlock the full potential of visual monitoring, identifying patterns, anomalies, and optimizing processes with a higher degree of accuracy.   Real-World Applications and Benefits: Manufacturing: Edge AI allows real-time monitoring of production lines, detecting faults or anomalies immediately, reducing downtime, and enhancing overall productivity. Retail: Visual monitoring combined with edge AI…

While 78% of organizations believe they are ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ prepared to mitigate an attack, 50% still fell victim to ransomware last year Vishak Raman Vice President of Sales, India SAARC and Southeast Asia at Fortinet Executive summary Fortinet recently surveyed 569 cybersecurity leaders and decision-makers from organizations of all sizes and industries around the globe to understand their perspectives on ransomware, how it has impacted their organizations, and what strategies they have in place to mitigate a potential attack. In this year’s survey, more than 80% of respondents say they are ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ concerned about the threat of ransomware, yet a similar number (78%) of organizations surveyed also believe they are ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ prepared to thwart a breach. Despite those concerns and feelings of preparedness, half of the organizations surveyed still fell victim to ransomware last year. Of the organizations that experienced a ransomware incident, 71% said they paid at least a portion of the demanded ransom, even though 72% indicated they detected the incident within hours (often within minutes). And while nearly all respondents had cyber insurance, this didn’t guarantee that all costs would be covered, or data restored. In fact, only 35% of those affected by ransomware recovered all their data after the incident. It’s not all bad news, though. In fact, despite economic uncertainty, nearly all leaders surveyed (91%) expect increased security budgets in the coming year to invest in technologies and services that further safeguard their networks from a potential ransomware attack. In general, security leaders’ top priority is to implement advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) that enable faster threat detection, followed by central monitoring to speed response. And specifically, Internet-of-Things (IoT) security and next-generation firewalls (NGFWs) topped the list of areas and products that leaders planned to invest in, with the greatest increase in plans to implement endpoint detection and response (EDR) and secure email gateway (SEG) solutions. This is a promising plan, as phishing emails were the number one method respondents reported ransomware actors used to gain entry. And of course, the endpoint is the ultimate destination of ransomware. “Though three out of four organizations detected ransomware attacks early, half still fell victim to them. These results demonstrate the urgency to move beyond simple detection to realtime response. However, this is only part of the solution as organizations cited the top challenges in preventing attacks were related to their people and processes. A holistic approach to cybersecurity that goes beyond investing in essential technologies and prioritizes training is essential” Interestingly, while many security leaders have traditionally believed that buying the best individual product for a project will yield the strongest cybersecurity posture, this year’s survey data indicates that those organizations that reported taking a point product approach were the most likely to become a victim of ransomware. However, technology is only part of the solution. The survey found that four out of the top five challenges in preventing ransomware were related to people and processes. As ransomware proliferates and attacker methods grow in sophistication, organizations of all shapes and sizes are a target, making it crucial that security leaders invest in the right technologies, people, and processes now to prevent a ransomware incident in the future. The Growing sophistication of ransomware makes every organization a target While ransomware has existed for decades, the global threat remains at peak levels. It also continues to become more sophisticated, causing increasing harm to organizations worldwide. According to observations from the FortiGuard Labs Incident Response (IR) team, financially motivated cybercrime accounted for the highest volume of incidents (74%) in 2022, with 82% of financially motivated cybercrimes involving the deployment of ransomware or malicious scripts. While year-over-year ransomware growth has slowed in 2022 – following the explosion of this attack method in 2021 – the frequency of it is still increasing. For example, in the first half of 2022, FortiGuard Labs observed the introduction of 10,666 new variants – that’s double the number seen in the six months prior.2 The likely reason for the change is that Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) operations are maturing, enabling cybercriminals to successfully introduce new, more sophisticated, and aggressive variants than ever before. And they are also being more selective, specifically targeting organizations able to provide a large payout. In contrast to the early success of RaaS, which initially relied on volume – more affiliates meant more opportunities to infiltrate networks and launch attacks – RaaS operators are increasingly becoming more selective regarding the associates they allow to join their operations. This more systematic approach to executing ransomware attacks is yielding greater success. For starters, they’re spending more time conducting reconnaissance to identify lucrative targets, meaning that many ransom demands now reach well into the tens of millions of dollars. Additionally, the ransoms these groups are demanding from their targets now tend to be commensurate with the organization’s size and industry. Many cybercriminal organizations use a formula to determine what amount to ask for so that a victim is more likely to pay. This growing maturity of ransomware operations is to be expected, given that RaaS is a significant driver of Crime-asa-Service (CaaS). Yet, as RaaS operators become more aggressive with their playbooks and incorporate increasingly destructive elements into attacks – such as the growing use of wipers – organizations of all shapes and sizes must implement appropriate security strategies to mitigate potential breaches. Ransomware attacks are common and costly Given the evolution and growing sophistication of ransomware operations, it’s not surprising that 84% of organizations represented in this year’s survey remain ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ concerned about this threat, which is even higher than the 76% of respondents that expressed the same level of worry when surveyed in 2021. However, despite these concerns, 78% also believe they are ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ prepared to prevent or mitigate a ransomware attack (up significantly from the 63% who felt that way in the prior survey). In fact, more than 90% of those surveyed said that having a ransomware strategy…