As India embraces a cashless economy, there has been a sudden spurt in new mobile wallet companies -but most of these start-ups are setting up digital shops without knowing the cyber risks involved, a top executive from US-based cyber security firm FireEye has emphasised. This is a dangerous trend when the country still lacks proper infrastructure and legislation to fight against cyber criminals.

In a first, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday registered a complaint against 15 people for allegedly claiming fraudulent refunds worth Rs 6.15 lakh from the leading payment gateway Paytm. A Paytm spokesperson, however, said in a statement that the platform has robust risk management practices but the case has brought the risks to the fore. Paytm registered over seven million transactions worth Rs 1.2 billion in a day after the demonetisation drive began on 8 November.

As threats become more pervasive and frequent in India, organisations are slowly becoming aware about the need for advanced protection. In 2016, India faced a wave of cyber security incidents, ranging from targeted attacks on government organisations to ATM malware attacks. The sophisticated, financially-motivated espionage actor groups focusing on critical systems and maturing businesses will be prevalent in 2017 as these enterprises are often vulnerable to compromise.

With IANS Inputs