HYDERABAD: In the wake of a cyberattack on Dr Reddy’s Labs, cyber security researchers are urging different sectors of the industry, both government and private, to come up with strategies to combat cybercrime. Digital wellness expert Anil Rachamalla said, “Every entity, be it government or private, needs to know and follow, what I like to call the tripod of security. That includes proactive cyber/operational security measures, proper cyber/operational security measures and proper proactive forensics.”
Rachamalla also urged companies to vet their staff so that the probability of human error reduces. He cited the Cyber Security Breaches Survey, as per which more than 70 per cent of cyberattacks are some form of social engineering attack, like phishing, impersonating and so on.
Cybersecurity company Kaspersky, in a report, had observed that there has been an alarming increase in the number of cyberattacks perpetrated on devices originating from the pharmaceutical industry. The report stated that India ranked sixth in the highest number of devices attacked in pharmaceutical organisations. In the report, a Kaspersky official remarked, “They (hackers) are slowly realising that pharma firms house a treasure trove of highly valuable data such as the latest drugs and vaccines. The rise of internet-connected operational technology inside pharmaceuticals also contributes to the widening attack surface inside this sector.”
Another cybersecurity researcher urged the government to pass the data protection bill, which has been stuck in Parliament for a long time. The personal data protection bill is likely to be tabled in next year’s budget session of Parliament.