No IT system including Aadhaar can claim to be 100 percent safe, says security software maker Sophos

No IT systems across the world can claim to be safe, including Aadhaar, due to rise in complexity of cyberattacks, the Indian arm of London Stock Exchange-listed security software maker Sophos said on 14 March.[caption id="attachment_4294363" align="alignleft" width="380"] Representational image. News18.[/caption]"No CIO today can say with hand on his heart that his systems are 100 percent vulnerability free," Sophos Managing Director, sales for India and Saarc, Sunil Sharma said at the sidelines of the launch of the report on The State of Endpoint Security.When asked his view on Aadhaar, which claims to be completely safe and secure, he said: "in terms of vulnerabilities, no one can claim that his system is 100 percent safe".Email sent to Unique Identification Authority of India, custodian of Aadhaar, elicited no immediate reply.The survey of Sophos, covering 2,700 IT decision makers including 300 in India, revealed that more than 70 percent surveyed do not have an anti-exploit technology, which means these businesses are easy prey for data breaches and complex threats like WannaCry.As per the survey, despite the intensity and magnitude of attacks, Indian businesses are still not prepared to defend itself against determined attackers."According to those impacted by ransomware last year, the median total cost of a ransomware attack was $133,000. Indian organisations median total cost stood at $1.17 million, the highest, in rectifying the impacts of ransomware. This extends beyond any ransom demanded and includes downtime, manpower, device cost, network cost, and lost opportunities," the report said.Ransomware is a malicious software that locks system of a user and demands payment for unlocking it. Around 67 percent of Indian entities covered in the survey were hit by ransomware last year.Globally, more than 70 percent of IT professionals surveyed were unable to identify the correct definition of anti-exploit technology, despite how critical it is for modern attack prevention, the report said."91 percent Indian organisations claimed to be running up-to-date endpoint protection when impacted by ransomware and 89 percent India respondents stated that malware threats have got more complex over the last year," as per the report.Globally, as per the survey, healthcare sector was most impacted by ransomware with 76 percent of entities in the segment admitted to have been hit by the malicious software.