India’s cybersecurity market is expected to grow from 1.97 billion in 2019 to USD 3.05 billion by 2022 as per reports. India has the second-largest Internet user base across the world, with around 560 million-plus users.
The statistics show the boom of the internet and technology across India and how this boom is giving life to new kinds of cybercrimes. With new startups coming up each day, and the lack of awareness about cybersecurity gives an excellent opportunity to cybercriminals. Cybercrime in India has been growing at an alarming rate with about seven lakh breach incidents in the year 2020 alone. Furthermore, new changes in the IT scenario introduce new challenges for businesses and organizations. Security being one of them.
According to a stat presented by the DSCI, Indian sectors such as – Healthcare sector, Financial sector, Media and Telecommunications, Product and Manufacturing require the maximum security vigilance and thus would generate the most demand in India for cybersecurity. Among the various cybersecurity services coming to the fore, Vulnerability Assessment & Penetration Testing India (VAPT) is the most prominent one.
What is VAPT?
VAPT is a methodology divided into two phases – Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing. Vulnerability Assessment (VA), involves tests to identify the loopholes and potential threats in the system including – the infrastructure or the hardware like the computer system, networks, operating systems, servers, and the software. In contrast, penetration testing (PA) revolves around exploiting the identified security gaps by simulating a hacker-like attack on the system to determine the associated level of risk due to each vulnerability.
VAPT services are required by enterprises of all scales across the globe to ensure the safety of data and resources.
Why does India need VAPT?
Since the evolution of the internet, India is moving towards a digitalized approach for almost all domains. Be it communication, shopping, payments, education, government services or other conventional services such as banking and healthcare.
As India’s dependency on the internet increases with time, online security is becoming a significant concern for all the parties involved. VAPT in India is required to ensure safe operation of the organization, application or network, without any external or internal risks.
Data transmission and communication over the internet are not safe and are probable to be intercepted by cybercriminals if not handled carefully. Since government portals and websites deal with sensitive and confidential information of the citizens of India, it runs the risks of compromise more than any other organization.
Reasons why Indian sectors should opt for VAPT
India is a growing economy, and technology contributes to a decent portion of this economy. The Indian citizens are inclining more towards the internet services and facilities. The growing demand and the rush to cater to it leaves a gaping hole on the security front. One overlooked security measure could cost you millions. It is hence, not only prudent but also economical to test the security of your online application/portal before releasing it out for the public. Yes, you guessed it, web application security testing is the way to do it.
More reasons why you must get a VAPT are:
1. To achieve compliance standards
To stand neck to neck with the internationally growing market, the new Indian companies need to focus on attaining the mandatory standards and protocols designed by the managing bodies. VAPT services in India would help these organizations to understand and analyze the requirements and support the businesses to achieve them.
The businesses going digital need to have their value and cope with the pre-existing online portals or platforms. VAPT helps Indian sectors to focus on the goals and meet the level of the global competitors or challengers.
2. To protect confidential information
Every organization deals with sensitive and secret information every day. This information could be credentials of the teams involved or the user database or customer’s credit card information. Any of this information getting into the wrong hands would lead to a massive wreck.
VAPT in India would help reduce risks to all this information from cyber attacks. There have been cases of hacking on the government portals, we can only imagine how devastating that would have been for our data.
Data is the new currency. Securing data should hold utmost importance in every organization irrespective of their size and reach.
3. To achieve business continuity
Once a website is under the control of a cybercriminal, the business loses its flow. Search engines start to show red alerts, warning messages as the visitors try to access hacked websites, and mainly restricts website traffic.
This breaks the business flow and negatively impacts the functioning of the system. The technicians and the executives need to look for a solution to remove the hack and regain the system’s equilibrium. A VAPT done on time in Indian companies would prevent them from falling prey to such brutal attacks that set their business off-track. It ensures your business continues to function smoothly.
4. To understand the security risks
Not all developers/designers are well aware of the risks involved while coding/ designing a web app. Risk is probable in the business logic as well. A VAPT helps them figure out the hidden flaws that may have missed their eye. A VAPT report, in turn, helps them understand where a patch is needed and how to go about it.
5. To design a path for secured future
A VAPT report provides a detailed documentation of all the identified vulnerabilities and their severity level. This lets business owners analyze the security gaps and devise a plan to bridge those gaps and secure their business from the outer world attacks and stand at the best position at the global level.
VAPT report will lay a foundation for the future planning of the security protocols and provide a remedy for the current flaws in security or business logic.
Closing Remarks
Digitalization is on boom in India, and the business owners and stakeholders must consider the security risks associated while moving towards online platforms similar to an on-ground business. VAPT in India has more significance given the surge in web services in India. VAPT will help enterprises to achieve international security standards and build a feeling of trust amongst its user base in India.