74% IT managers receive phishing attacks
By agencies   |   Wednesday, 10 August 2005, 19:30 IST
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NEW DELHI: Phishing and spyware seem to be the biggest challenges that corporate India is facing today. About 74 percent of IT managers across India report that their employees have received phishing attacks via e-mail or instant messaging on their office PC. More than half (52 percent) say that their PCs have been infected by spyware. According to a recent survey, called ‘2005 India Web@work’, conducted by Websense Inc, 32 percent of employees in India admitted to have given out their confidential data such as credit card numbers and corporate network passwords as a result of phishing attacks. In a phishing attack, a fake, but similar, webpage or e-mail of a bank or shopping portal pops up on a user’s computer screen. This fake e-mail or website asks the user to revalidate confidential information. 62 percent of IT managers said that a security breach would put their job at risk. Managers found handling such breaches more stressful than a minor car accident. Another security threat to the computers is the spyware. Spyware sites contain codes that infect the office network. It pilfers the databank, destroying sensitive corporate information. More than 20 percent of employees said that they had visited sites containing spyware accidentally. Going further, the survey said that on an average, Indian employees spend about 5.4 hours per week surfing non-work related sites. Employees spend around 4.4 hours every week using Internet messaging, games or peer-to-peer file sharing. While only 6 percent admitted to have visited pornographic websites, 8percent said that they visit online-gaming sites during work. More than 51percent are willing to give up their morning tea to surf the net, the survey revealed.

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