Category: National

Honeywell announced recently it is expanding its strategic alliance with Nexceris, developer of Li-ion Tamer® lithium-ion gas detection solutions, to help make electric vehicles (EVs) safer. Honeywell and Nexceris will offer advanced automotive sensing technology to help prevent conditions leading to thermal runaway in EV batteries, a phenomenon that causes extremely high temperatures within the battery cell and can result in a fire. Global sales of EVs doubled in 2021 from the previous year to nearly 7 million, and India’s electric vehicle market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 90% in this decade to touch $150 billion by 2030. Many of these vehicles today use lithium-ion batteries as an energy source, which can pose safety risks that can impact EV owners. To help mitigate these risks, automobile manufacturers are looking to incorporate technology to provide enhanced safety. Honeywell offers a wide range of lithium-ion battery safety and performance solutions, including sensors used in battery management systems to monitor the health of EV batteries, gas detection solutions used throughout the manufacturing process and electrical safety personal protective equipment, providing protection to workers and allowing them to operate safely in hazardous conditions. Rajesh Rege, President, Honeywell India, mentioned, “As more people switch to electric vehicles, automakers need to supply lithium-ion batteries that are reliable, safe and secure at every point of their lifespan. EV sales are likely to increase exponentially ‘in the coming months and years’ due to the demand incentives provided under FAME II, the launch of state policies, rising fuel prices, tightening emissions laws and increasing awareness of the green environment. Honeywell is assisting this transition to more EVs on the road by providing ready-now solutions to help reduce safety concerns. Honeywell’s collaboration with Nexceris to develop an enhanced suite of battery monitoring sensors will help automotive manufacturers strengthen their battery health monitoring systems with the ability to detect thermal runaway conditions even earlier.” The companies will collaborate with leading global vehicle manufacturers to deliver advanced gas detection solutions in EV battery packs to allow for early intervention, helping avoid costly property damage and safety issues. “Our work with Honeywell will help us empower the global transition to electric vehicles through enhanced battery monitoring,” said Kyle Shen, President and CEO, Nexceris, “Fires from lithium-ion batteries are dangerous and often difficult to contain after they start. By combining our shared expertise in battery sensing and gas detection technology with Honeywell’s extensive manufacturing capabilities, we will be working toward offering our vehicle manufacturing customers a more advanced safety solution and meeting the growing demand for lithium-ion batteries.”  

India’s premier indigenous security and surveillance product manufacturing brand, PRAMA displayed its innovative transportation solutions at TrafficInfraTech Expo with a theme ‘Innovation Meets Expectation.’ Prama India had participated in the TrafficInfratech Expo held between 16-18 November at Bombay Exhibition Center (BEC) in Mumbai. The exquisitely designed PRAMA booth got good response from the security professional community. A special commemorative Coffee Table book on PRAMA’s ‘Make-in-India’ mission to boost indigenous manufacturing was inaugurated by S.V.R. Srinivas, Metropolitan Commissioner, MMRDA in the presence of transportation industry leaders, government representatives and delegates. PRAMA booth at the TrafficInfraTech Expo displayed its innovative and indigenously developed transportation security products and solutions, including Highway Control Room Solutions, Toll Plaza Surveillance, Advanced Traffic Management Solution, In Bus Surveillance Solution, Mobile Enforcement Solution, Ai Sense Solution and other solutions. PRAMA booth also displayed Speed Detection Cameras and ANPR Cameras. The three-day Smart Mobility Conference 2022 was concurrently organised along with the TrafficinfraTech Expo event, it covered eclectic mix of contemporary themes on transportation, traffic management, logistics, Mobility, Smart Cities Parking Management. On the first day of the conference, Vinay Mishra, Senior Vice President – Projects, Prama India Pvt. Ltd., gave a detailed presentation on the trendy theme ‘Smart Transportation, Smarter Solutions.’ He also briefed about the latest Transportation security solutions offered by PRAMA India. His presentation got an overwhelming response from the conference delegates. PRAMA’s Transportation Solution enables the promise of advanced video security solutions. It provides mission critical security to the transportation hubs. It has a Command and Control solution to proactively monitor the video data of video security cameras. Its bespoke products and solutions serve the vehicular security needs. PRAMA’s Smart Traffic Solution provides the help to resolve the Traffic Management challenges. It keeps the vehicle traffic moving swiftly while ensuring the security and safety of travelers, vehicles and pedestrians. TTTrafficInfraTech Expo 2022 provided a networking forum for government representatives, experts, project heads, system integrators and service providers to collectively find solutions to urban transport challenges. The event got concluded with relevant insights on latest developments in the India’s transport sector. A large number of dealers, distributors, consultants, system integrators and end-users visited the PRAMA booth to check the latest transportation security solutions on display.  

Fortinet®, a global company in broad, integrated, and automated cybersecurity solutions, recently announced a business benefit analysis of Fortinet Secure SD-WAN and its ability to support large enterprises by delivering 300% RoI over three years and payback in eight months. As one of the top SD-WAN vendors, Fortinet commissioned a Total Economic Impact™ (TEI) study by Forrester Consulting to analyze the value that Fortinet Secure SDWAN can provide to large enterprises, examining both the network and security impact on customers’ businesses. As part of the independent study, Forrester interviewed business decision-makers with experience across industries and geographies, including retail, healthcare, financial services, and manufacturing. Collectively, the organizations deployed Fortinet Secure SD-WAN and other Fortinet products, such as switches, wireless LAN, and wireless WAN, and have more than $1 billion in annual revenue, up to 8,500 sites, and up to 133,000 employees. Based on customer feedback, Forrester developed a composite model for the study and built out a three-year financial model to reflect the costs and benefits of the investment. Key findings from the study and benefits for customers include: Eight Months Payback and 300% RoI: Customers deploying Fortinet Secure SD-WAN achieved a 300% return on investment over three years with payback in eight months. These benefits include a reduction in communications costs, increased productivity of security and network teams, improved network and security performance, and increased productivity of deployment teams. 65% Reduction in Network Disruption: With enhanced network performance enabled by Fortinet Secure SD-WAN, business users experienced a 65% reduction in the number of network disruptions. 50% Improvement in Resolving Issues: Fortinet offers increased visibility and effective, broad protection, allowing security and network teams to identify and remediate network issues more quickly. Improving time to issue resolution by as much as 50% enabled the composite organization to reassign security and network team resources to higher value activities, resulting in a three-year, risk-adjusted productivity benefit of $1.4 million. Increased Productivity of Deployment Team: Fortinet Secure SD-WAN enabled the composite organization to save time by 75% per new deployment, resulting in significant efficiencies for the deployment team. Fortinet Secure SD-WAN Transforms and Secures WAN Prior to implementing Fortinet Secure SD-WAN, the organizations used a combination of technologies and vendors to manage, maintain, and monitor their networks. These solutions, which relied on MPLS, internet, and assorted hardware, lacked visibility and adequate security coverage, forcing network engineers and administrators to spend excessive time identifying and resolving unanticipated problems on an ad hoc basis. Additionally, scaling and modifying existing solutions became increasingly cost-prohibitive and time-consuming. Vishak Raman, Vice President of Sales, India, SAARC and Southeast Asia at Fortinet, said, “Large enterprises around the world continue to turn to Fortinet to achieve their digital acceleration goals with solutions that converge networking and security. We’re pleased that Forrester has quantified both the network and security benefits of Fortinet Secure SD-WAN, which will advance our commitment to helping customers make informed decisions with validated solutions.”  

Honeywell announced that 10 Indian students among 172 students from 25 countries attended a once-in-a-lifetime learning experience at the 11th Honeywell Leadership Challenge Academy (HLCA). The unique leadership program took place for two consecutive weeks at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. This year, Honeywell chose eight students from Bangalore and two students from Pune. The HLCA is a scholarship program for children of Honeywell employees worldwide that offers a weeklong immersive, science-oriented leadership experience. It is designed to encourage high school students ages 16-18 years old to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) through real-world, hands-on activities in computer science, engineering, astronautics and coding. “For more than 10 years, Honeywell has brought together students from around the world to travel to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center to experience Space Camp, helping to build their technical, collaborative and communications skills,” said Jayme Meyer, Honeywell Vice President, Internal Communications and Corporate Social Responsibility, “Today, the 30 fastest-growing occupations globally are in STEM, and Honeywell is proud to partner with the USSRC to empower the next generation of future-shaping innovators and leaders.” Students are selected for the program through a rigorous application and review process based on academic achievement and community involvement. Honeywell and its employees help fund the scholarships, which cover the cost of tuition, meals, accommodations and program materials. Yatharth Nehra, a Participant from Pune said, “It was a great learning and networking experience. I believe there are only very few organizations that provide the advantage and the diverse knowledge as HLCA provides. Honeywell understands that the future is now, and the future is us. I would like to thank Honeywell for providing me with this opportunity.” “Honeywell Leadership Challenge Academy at US Space and Rocket Center was once in a lifetime experience for me. It was a rare combination of technical knowledge, hands-on experience, meeting legends and having loads of fun,” said Bidipta Chatterjee, a Participant from Bengaluru. Bengaluru student Nisha Jain reminisced, “It was a wonderful opportunity to build my leadership qualities, challenge myself across different fields and also meet and learn from my peers from different cultures. We learned how to work as a team with mission control & incident control challenge, build a rocket, code a raspberry pi, train on MATs, use a flight simulator, experience 1/6 gravity, and climbed a 40-foot wall! Proud to have been selected for HLCA.” Since its launch in 2010, Honeywell, in partnership with the USSRC, has sponsored nearly 3,000 students to attend space camps. Participants develop STEM leadership skills through numerous team-building challenges such as building, coding and testing rockets; simulated astronaut training; shuttle missions; and a low-gravity moonwalk. Students also use computational thinking and computer science to deepen their digital skills. “Space camp was one of the most exhilarating and educative experiences for me with the exposure to space programs, leadership, critical thinking and teamwork.” shared Srinidhi Prabhakaran, a Bengaluru Participant. The U.S. Space & Rocket Center, a Smithsonian Affiliate, is home to Space Camp®, Space Camp® Robotics, Aviation Challenge® and U.S. Cyber Camp as well as the Apollo 16 capsule, the National Historic Landmark Saturn V rocket and world-class traveling exhibits. USSRC is the Official Visitor Center for NASA Marshall Space Flight Center and a showcase for national defense technologies developed at the U.S. Army’s Redstone Arsenal.  

Hikvision recently added the eDVR Series into its expanding portfolio of security solutions for SMBs. Powered by embedded solid state drive (eSSD) technology, Hikvision’s eDVRs are compact, durable, easy-to-use, and energy-efficient. All this means they are ideal for small-to-medium-sized businesses and residential applications. “The eDVR Series is smarter, faster, more durable and more energy efficient than anything that’s gone before, not only helping to minimize negative environmental impacts, but also delivering major energy and cost savings for our customers,” said Wenson Zhou, Product Director at Hikvision. New possibilities for efficiency and sustainability Eco-friendliness and 45% energy saving The ultra-low power consumption of chip-level eSSDs makes Hikvision eDVRs more sustainable. Since these devices don’t have spindle motor engines built in, their energy consumption is 45% lower than that of the conventional DVRs, not only helping users to make long-term savings on their electricity bills, but also enabling them to reduce carbon emissions. In addition, the use of eSSDs makes the products more durable than conventional DVRs that use HDD drives. This is because there are fewer moving parts, such as actuator arms. With longer product life cycles, the eDVR Series contributes to eco-efficiency and sustainability. Endurable storage with a 25% improvement in efficiency Being powered by ‘eSSD’ technology, with solid-state storage components down to chip level, the Hikvision eDVRs have exceptional storage efficiency and system stability. The storage efficiency of eDVR Series is further enhanced by ‘scene adaptive bitrate control technology,’ which automatically optimizes encoding for video footage, and improves the coding efficiency by 25%. Specifically, complex scenes with human or vehicle movements are allocated higher bitrates to ensure great video quality. At the same time, low-complexity scenes with little or no movement are assigned a lower bitrate to optimize storage efficiency. Compact design for ease of use and simplicity of installation As the eDVRs are embedded with SSDs and have a ‘screwless’ design, tool-free installation is made possible. Besides, without the traditional horizontal mounting requirements of conventional HDDs, the devices are also easier to assemble and set up. Thanks to this ease and flexibility of installation, both end-customers and installers can save time and reduce their maintenance and operating costs. Compared to conventional SSD DVRs, Hikvision’s eDVRs are highly compact, helping to save on space. They can fit anywhere – be it behind a monitor, under a table, on a bookshelf, or hidden inside a custom stand. Smart motion detection Embedded with Motion Detection 2.0 technology, the eDVR Series can distinguish human beings and vehicles from other objects in any given environment, enabling property owners to respond much more quickly and effectively to potential security breaches. The technology also enable property owners to search video footage based on the appearances of people or vehicles during a specific period of time, saving time and reducing their workloads and costs. Effective for residential and SMB applications The innovative features of the Hikvision eDVR Series make these solutions equally effective for residential, SMB, and commercial applications. In all cases, end-customers benefit from an easy and flexible installation process, low energy consumption, minimal maintenance requirements, and high performance video capture, storage, and processing. The compact format of Hikvision eDVRs also increases the solution’s versatility. For example, eDVRs can easily fit into residential homes. The devices’ storage drives also operate with virtually no noise or vibrations, and generate very little heat, which makes them ideal for residential applications. These advantages, along with the eDVRs’ affordability, functionality, and sustainability, also make the product range an ideal choice for SMBs such as convenience stores, grocery shops, restaurants, workshops, bars, and more.  

With its establishment three decades ago, Matrix has been a growing name across Telecom and Security domains internationally. Matrix covers the entire security and communication needs of organizations ranging in all sizes with its extensive solution range in the domain of Video Surveillance, Access Control, Time-Attendance, and Telecom. Matrix focuses on providing customer-centered technology-driven solutions by providing world-class products indigenously researched, designed, and developed in India. With research and development consisting of 40% of its human resources, Matrix has a wide range of 60+ technologically advanced products spread across its 4 domains. With a worldwide network of 2500+ Partners serving over 1 million users globally, Matrix solely focuses on sales through its channel partners. With intensive research at the forefront, Matrix builds innovative enterprise-grade solutions on a national and international scale. To highlight these latest innovations in the security and telecom domain, Matrix presented its ideation event – MATRIX PARTNER CONNECT 2022. To bridge the gap surrounding the pandemic, through this event, Matrix converged with partners and system integrators for furthering business possibilities. Working hand in hand with its channel partner – MIRACLE AUTOMATION, Matrix rolled out its next episode of MATRIX PARTNER CONNECT in the city of Lucknow. With its status as a defense corridor, fastest-growing infra, and largest spiritual circuitry, Lucknow has become a city with a growing industrial presence. Especially with full-fledged connectivity to various nearby industrial hubs, Lucknow – this ‘heart-of-the-nation’ location is a spot with extensive potential for growing Matrix Business and its SI network. The event was held at the Centrum, Lucknow. In this edition of Partner Connect, Matrix put out its entire IP Video Surveillance solutions that consist of server-based enterprise-grade NVRs, UL-listed Cameras, Matrix VMS, and more. Focusing on customer challenges such as bandwidth utilization, storage cost, managing multi-site offices, and reactive security, Matrix supplements all organizational needs. On-display Cameras included the Matrix range of Turret, Dome, Bullet, and PTZ Cameras. Ranging from 2MP to 8MP, Matrix Cameras are stamped with UL Certification, a global standard for safety, and NEMA Certification for protection against environmental hazards, providing high-clarity images for better scenario detailing. Alongside this, Matrix put forth its Server-based Enterprise grade NVRs on display. With Pre-installed Video Management Software supporting redundancies and hot-swappable hard disks – HDD/ SSD capable of up to 144TB storage capacity, this tech marvel suffices all organizational security concerns. When it comes to Access Control and Time-Attendance, Matrix is the only OEM that manufactures all the elements ranging from panels, door controllers, and readers to software in-house. Within the segment of Time-Attendance, Matrix presented its Aadhaar Enabled Biometric Attendance Device (AEBAS) designed explicitly for government organizations – COSEC VEGA FAXQ. Using Aadhaar information from the UIDAI server securely, this device helps the government accurately mark the attendance of their employees. Besides this, Matrix displayed its best-in-class facial recognition-based door controller boasting high accuracy, an identification speed of less than 0.5 sec, and a massive user capacity of 50K – COSEC ARGO FACE. Incorporating multiple connectivity options such as Wi-Fi, PoE, and Ethernet, these devices provide the best for modern organizations. In Access Control Domain, Matrix showcased its Multifaceted Site Controller controlling up to 255 COSEC door controllers and 25,000 Users – COSEC PANEL200P. Also, Matrix brought its pure access door controller with multiple benefits over the conventional access control terminal – COSEC ARC DC200P. Its PoE abilities and multiple mounting options make it easy to install even in constrained spaces with minimalistic wiring. This event showcased the entire Matrix access control product range. In the domain of Telecommunications, Matrix is the sole OEM that puts forward all the business communication products and solutions. Under the umbrella of Telecom solutions, Matrix presented its product and solutions consisting of PBXs, IP-PBXs, Server-based PBXs, Media Gateways, Communication endpoints, and softphones. Anil Mehra, Senior VP-Sales and Marketing stated, “With its exclusive event – Matrix Partner Connect 2022, Matrix wishes to bring all System Integrators and Business prospects on the same platform. Through this event, one of our major aims is to connect with organizations through system integrators, present our successful case studies internationally, and demonstrate how Matrix caters to various verticals through our enterprise-grade solutions.”  

Synology, a pioneer and one of the world leaders in data storage and management, recently unveiled its game plan for achieving 300% growth in 2023, riding on its track record of 100% growth YoY in India since 2019 and the strength of its new range of data storage and backup, file collaboration, video surveillance, and network infrastructure solutions. Synology has been growing exponentially YoY in revenue, units shipped, installed base, customers, and active partner accounts since 2019. Synology server deployments in India have doubled YoY, especially among Small and Midsize Businesses (SMBs), emerging as key growth drivers for the company. The manufacturing sector, seeking multi-site solutions to share and sync mission-critical data, accounts for more than 30% of Synology revenues in India. Professional services (ex. hospitals) seeking on-demand data protection, security and backup solutions, and the entertainment industry seeking PETA volume data storage and high I/O data management solutions follow with a 15% share each. Events since 2019 have changed the way businesses and their employees manage and share data, testing organization-wide IT resilience. During the pandemic, Synology NAS used for file collaboration and remote access fulfilled a critical need for SMBs and enterprises to have an integrated infrastructure providing networking, collaboration, security, and file storage solutions, to minimize IT efforts and enable them to focus on running their business in a challenging environment. Designed to simplify and empower users, regardless of skill level, to tackle common IT issues, Synology NAS servers enhanced the business resilience of SMBs. “The Indian economy is poised for exponential growth in 2023 and beyond. Our new line of data management solutions enables us to address unmet market demands and drive digital transformation for customers in India,” said Michael Chang, Regional Sales Head, Asia Pacific, Synology. Staying at the forefront of data management, Synology is bringing new possibilities to the table, including solutions for data storage and backup, file collaboration, video surveillance, and network infrastructure – all designed with one goal in mind – presenting a centralized platform to simplify IT administration while driving digital transformation for enterprises, SMBs and SOHO users in India. Encompassing all products and spanning data management, data protection, and IT infrastructure security, the newly launched Synology solutions will transform the way data is stored and managed setting the bar even higher for reliability, security, and scalability. Data Management Solutions Protect Data Against Ransomware and Cyberthreats With DSM 7.2 Expected in early 2023, DSM 7.2 will introduce full-volume encryption, offering greater peace of mind while boosting storage performance by 48% over shared folder-based encryption. DSM 7.2 will also introduce ‘write once, read many’ (WORM) folders. These tamper-proof folders prevent modification or deletion of data during a set period of time. And just like new immutable backups in Hyper Backup, which bar any changes after creation, it helps protect data against ransomware and cyberthreats. Share and Collaborate with Ease Using Synology Drive Updates to Synology’s private cloud solution, Synology Drive, help keep files safe during sharing between teams with watermarks and download policies. Remote wipe capabilities help minimize security risks by removing synced folders from stolen Windows and macOS clients. Automatic login with AD credentials following mass deployment, as well as the provisioning of backup and syncing tasks, make mass deployment simpler. Sharing data over SMB will be safer and more efficient in SMB multichannel transfer support makes use of all network connections available between servers and clients to greatly boost SMB file transfer performance. Scale Out NAS – Next-Gen Storage ServersDSM 7.2. Cross-protocol file locking between SMB file shares and Synology Drive ensures that in-use files are not edited or overwritten. And SMB multichannel transfer support makes use of all network connections available between servers and clients to greatly boost SMB file transfer performance. Scale Out NAS – Next-Gen Storage Servers Also launching in 2023 are new scale-out systems designed for file and object storage. Scale-out clusters will be considerably faster than Synology’s current largest solutions, with near linear scaling of performance and capabilities as more units are added. The first generation of scale-out systems will support clusters of up to 60 servers for more than 12PB of effective storage, over 60GB/s sequential write performance, and more than 80,000 concurrent connections. The clusters will offer upwards of 99.99% availability and support Synology’s Hyper Backup and Active Backup data protection suites. Data Protection Solutions Worldwide Backup Management Platform A new management platform for Active Backup and C2 Backup aims to enable seamless management, deployment, and monitoring of backup tasks across an organization’s IT infrastructure, regardless of location or scale. The new platform brings together Synology on-premises and cloudbased solutions, providing IT admins and MSPs with the most efficient tools to protect and ensure timely recovery of any device or service. Video Surveillance Synology 500 Series AI-Powered Cameras Launching in early 2023, Synology 500 Series IP cameras will offer superior performance, security, and integration, with all camera settings managed directly from Surveillance Station. Edge AI capabilities, such as guarding intrusion detection zones, free up recording server resources to allow larger AI-powered deployments, while dedicated processing speeds up people and vehicle searches anywhere in the video frame. Coming in two form factors, Synology 500 Series cameras feature 5MP sensors for wide-angle 16:9, 3K (2880×1620) recording at 30fps. The cameras support PoE and are weatherproof (IP67), enabling flexible placement indoors or outdoors. Synology 500-series cameras are US NDAA/ TAA compliant and are designed for security, introducing similar security innovations and hardening methods found on Synology enterprise products. Networking Solutions WRX560 Wi-Fi 6 Router with Advanced Networking Features Building on the SRM 1.3 platform, the new WRX560 brings the same high-end network management features from the RT6600ax into a more affordable price point. With powerful internal dual-band radios and a 2.5GbE LAN/ WAN port, WRX560 can easily be added as a mesh node to any RT6600ax router or utilized as a standalone solution for homes and offices. Hybrid-Cloud Services Active Insight – Automated Breach and Misuse Detection Active Insight is evolving to automatically prevent user…

The PHDCCI Defence & HLS Committee recently organized the Industry Interactive Conference ‘Roadmap for Indigenisation of UAVs at PHD House, New Delhi. The key objective of this Conference was to discuss on the achievable roadmap for indigenising the manufacturing of UAVs and counter UAVs as they are needed in multi sectors and India has to develop its indigenous capability for its growing future needs. Air Vice Marshal Rajiva Ranjan, VM, Assistant Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (ACIDS) (PP & FS), Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff (HQ IDS), Ministry of Defence was the Chief Guest for the Conference. AVM Ranjan gave his forthright views on India’s drone market, the armed forces perspective and pointers for the industry and spoke of global trends and how the character of war has changed in the recent past and so has the technology with the 4th industrial revolution. He also highlighted that the weakness in the entire value chain was in the ideation phase and subsequently in the inability to convert that into a product. Industries must be involved during the Preliminary Design Review and Concept Design Review phases to be able to create a product roadmap and execute it right first time. He also put forth that industry consider the Essential Parameters B of any RFP to the benefit of the Armed Force. AVM Ranjan also suggested that while the opportunities exist the industry must come forward and register their company and products with the concerned agencies like IDS, DGQA and DDP. Dr. (Smt.) Ranjana Nallamalli, Scientist ‘G’, Director, Directorate of Systems and Technology Analysis (DSTA) Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) said that many subsystems of UAVs are still procured from abroad – Carbon fibre, core aerodynamics, camera. She also highlighted that 40% of TDF funding can be used to engage academia. Arjun Kumar, DRDS Additional Director & Scientist Directorate Technology Development Fund (TDF) Defence Research & Development Organisation Ministry of Defence, Govt. of India gave a detailed presentation on their sanctioned projects and the underlying opportunities to MSMEs & Start-Ups through funding support and assistance in product development. Col. Manik Anand, Planning Officer (Aerospace) Department of Defence Production Ministry of Defence, Govt. of India highlighted the various initiatives taken by the DDP to promote the MSMEs & Start-Ups in the Defence & aerospace sector. Col. Sanjeev Nair (Retd.), Program Director, DIO-iDEX Department of Defence Production Ministry of Defence, Govt. of India encouraged the industry to apply for projects even with proof of concept, not limit to sanctioned/ uploaded projects. Rudra Shriram, Chair, Defence & HLS Committee, PHDCCI & Joint President, DCM Shriram Ltd explained how Drone technology and startups are helping solve several real-world problems like high utility bills and poor security by bringing innovative solutions using drones. Mridul Babbar, Director & Co-Founder, Sagar Defence Engineering highlighted the various opportunities particularly in the Drone Industry. Smit Shah, President, Drone Federation of India (DFI) explained how Drone Federation of India is working towards operationalizing procedures and processes for the drone industry. Prof. Sudipto Mukherjee, Ford Chair Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Delhi, shared the various initiatives and support that they are giving to the Startups and MSMEs in the defence and aerospace sector. R. K. Narang, Director – Strategic Initiatives, Drone Federation of India (DFI) talked about how Indigenisation is bridging gaps, reducing vulnerabilities, increasing design, manufacturing and exports and also highlighted the real challenges on the subject. Col. Ramit Arora, Senior Vice President, NewSpace Research & Technologies gave insight that 17 to 18 cases of autonomous flying drones being progressed by the Indian Army and NSRT produces 100% indigenous products. Abhinav Varrey, Head of Sales & Communication, JOHNNETTE Technologies Pvt. Ltd explained how JOHNNETTE is working closely with IA for a project for the last 1-1.5 years. Rimanshu Pandey, Co-Founder and CTO, TSAW Drones shared his thoughts on civil space and explained about their organisation projects. The session was moderated by Col. K V Kuber, Indian Army Veteran, Director – Aerospace & Defence, Ernst and Young. It was attended by more than 150 industry delegates especially from the Start-Ups & the MSMES.  

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…