Cyber-security is slowly, but steadily entering the books of enterprises, big and small. Its competitive advantage is being increasingly realised and business leaders aggressive about data security more than ever. K Purushothaman, CEO, K7 Computing, a veteran in the domain, talks more about cyber-security and how it’s trending today.
What are the current industry trends in cybersecurity?
The cyber-security industry is actively developing new technologies to mitigate the emerging threats targeting growing segments of handheld and IoT devices. Finding out the vulnerabilities and exploits on each of these platforms would appear at the top of the industry’s to-do list. New-age technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning and big data will be integrated with threat intelligence to address threats appearing at various levels like endpoints, networks, devices, containers and the cloud. These technologies would help the industry to address massive security requirements for smart homes and smart cities.
The demand for security professionals in the country will increase across industries due to the massive spike in the number of cyber-attacks. Many companies are likely to invest in dedicated security and incident response teams to protect their IT infrastructure; however, getting required skilled professionals to safeguard the business would continue to be difficult to source.
Please shed some light on India’s preparedness to address the ever-growing data security threats
Digital India initiatives are driving the need for cybersecurity more than ever. Everything around our life is getting inter-connected, and many of us are still unaware of the enormous potential of cyber threats. Every single day, organisations face a deluge of malicious probes and attempts to breach their cyber defences. Malicious attackers and threat actors continuously evolve their tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTP) to bypass perimeter security controls and system defences by using malware to gain a foothold within the network.
India’s cybersecurity landscape is fast evolving, and businesses are working towards protecting themselves from cyber threats. In this dynamic space, the efforts to address the ever-growing data security threats should be ongoing and require collaboration between government, organisations and cybersecurity experts.
How well are Indian enterprises approaching cybersecurity?
Cybersecurity should be considered as a critical concern for the industries, with the growing number of cyber attacks and data breaches. Many enterprises have a fair understanding of the necessity of cybersecurity policies. Many of them are already investing to adopt proper cybersecurity policies to shield themselves. However, many business houses are still in a dilemma to invest the required amount for securing its business. It is high time for enterprises to address the evolving cyber threat landscape and gear up to safeguard against emerging cyber threats.
How is K7 Computing helping enterprises tackle cyber threats?
K7 Labs track numerous cyber attacks involving enterprises and provide solutions to tackle cyber threats. Ransomware, a common subclass of malware, is one such example. We developed K7’s heuristic, dynamic behaviour-based anti-ransomware feature that safeguards users from the deadliest ransomware attacks. Adversaries come up with myriads of sophisticated methods to execute malware attacks in user devices and networks. We often see methods like hoodwinking emails as phishing to gain control of the system and launch attacks in multiple stages. The exploitation of already found vulnerabilities is another most visible method for launching lethal attacks. Each year, thousands of vulnerabilities get exposed, and the corresponding authorities roll out patches to fix them. But many users/admins skip installing such patches, resulting in savage attacks. Another major issue would be the use of common or weak passwords which allow easy credential brute-forcing for an attacker to obtain unauthorised remote access to the device and control it at will.
Please elaborate on K7 Computing’s growth plans
K7 Computing is eyeing for deeper penetration into the enterprise segment with an array of cybersecurity products and solutions, and create an impact in the sector. We also have some aggressive plans to establish ourselves in new geographies. K7 is gearing up to launch a dedicated product for the small office / home office (SOHO) segment. In this financial year, we are set to launch the new SOHO cybersecurity solution as a substitute for CIOs in the SME space.
K7 Computing, with a rich 27 years of experience, is the first cybersecurity product company with a ‘Make in India’ customised engine. We have also established K7 Academy to nurture future cybersecurity professionals. Alongside in-depth learning, the academy offers students and professionals passionate about cybersecurity, state-of-the-art lab facility and training by the top-of-the-line cybersecurity experts.