Latest news with #Kaura
Time of India
22-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
India Inc shoring up its cybersecurity spends amid spillover threats
Large and mid-sized companies in India are reassessing their cyber readiness and investing in security upgradation after the recent India-Pakistan hostilities, according to cybersecurity firms.'This segment was previously slow or lazy to act, but now they realise even a single ransomware attack could cost them Rs 10 crore, wiping out a huge chunk of revenue and setting them back by years,' Securonix's India director, Dipesh Kaura, told ET. The company provides artificial intelligence (AI)-driven cybersecurity solutions to BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance) clients, such as HDFC and IT companies such as Persistent Systems. Kaura said there were advisories floating in the cyber world before the recent escalation in tension between India and Pakistan, and there was also a significant spike in cyberattacks targeting India. 'These advisories were shared with large corporations, banks and critical infrastructure players. Once the Pahalgam incident happened, every chief information security officer (CISO) went back to office the next day and began reviewing cyber defence mechanisms,' he said. As per data from Kaspersky's ICS CERT (industrial control systems cyber emergency response team) report for Q1 2025, malicious objects were blocked on 19.1% of ICS computers globally. Cyber experts said overall discussions around enhanced monitoring, risk assessments and budget allocations for cyber resilience are gaining ground, with enquiries doubling in the last month. SCS Tech, another IT and cybersecurity solutions provider, said there has been a 30–40% surge in enterprise enquiries related to geopolitical cyber risks , which cuts across government and private sectors. Cyber firms said turnaround time for signing contracts and finalising deals has also picked up. 'What would have taken three years is now happening in just three months,' one of them said. Cyber threats to continue for next 2–3 months Industry experts told ET that this heightened activity from across the border will continue for the next two to three months, especially for companies with critical infrastructure, defence systems, and BFSI. Sources indicated that tech companies, too, are reviewing their cybersecurity frameworks, making it a boardroom priority and launching reviews to mitigate threats. "Traditionally, organisations prepared for natural disasters, but not war scenarios. Now, CISOs are incorporating geopolitical conflicts into their continuity planning. They are intensifying red-teaming exercises," Tredence's CISO, Manoj Kuruvanthody, said. According to Kuruvanthody, companies are strengthening distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) defences. DDoS attack is a cyberattack where a target system is flooded with traffic from multiple sources, making it unavailable to legitimate users. Cyberattacks are no longer limited to critical sectors; they've also drawn the attention of those in the consumer products space. Raj Dogra, chief information officer at edtech firm upGrad, said geopolitical tensions have led to cyber attackers targeting sectors indiscriminately, including online education. 'The online skilling segment, where upGrad is placed, is also vulnerable. It manages vast repositories of personal data, and any compromise risks trust, access, and national talent pipelines,' Dogra said, adding that the company has taken several proactive steps through simulation drills, cyber hygiene education, and stakeholder buy-in. From a cyber firm's standpoint, organisations must make sure that their cyber defences are able to actively block attacks in real-time, especially zero-day and supply-chain attacks. 'While we work with a lot of companies which are on the cutting edge of security, a lot of them are still behind, investing in maintaining the technical debt of old security tooling and outdated open-source baselines that are not effective at blocking the speed and scale of today's cyber threats,' said Vrajesh Bhavsar, cofounder, Operant AI-- a Silicon Valley-based cybersecurity startup that has expanded to India. On where Indian enterprises stand when it comes to cyber readiness, IT solutions provider SNDK Corp's founder Brijesh Patel said, 'Many organisations in the private sector continue to operate with under-patched servers, making them more vulnerable to cyberattacks. The implementation of firewalls and antivirus systems is either inadequate or missing altogether, particularly in non-government entities.'
Hindustan Times
26-04-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
2nd death anniversary: Skill India centre to come up in memory of Parkash Singh Badal
Lauding the Centre government's decision to open Parkash Singh Badal Skill India Centre, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal said on Friday that the SAD patriarch was a true mass leader with a futuristic vision. Addressing a gathering on an event to mark the second death anniversary of the late chief minister at his native place in Muktsar's Badal village, Sukhbir said: 'It was during the Badal saab tenure when Punjab became the first state in India to start a skill development push. Later, it was adopted by the Union government to empower youth with the skills to meet the diverse demands of different industries.' According to Sandeep Kaura, adviser, national skill development corporation, the upcoming project would be started at the premises of Mata Jaswant Kaur School, run by the Badal family, having a capacity to train about 2,000 youth in different trades, healthcare, construction, agricultural technology and sports infrastructure. Handing over the project approval documents to Sukhbir on the death anniversary, Kaura said the initiative has been conceptualised as a befitting tribute to the late CM. 'I have been entrusted by the central authorities to supervise the project and we hope to make it functional in the next 2-3 months. The centre would have the capacity to train youth to cater to the job industry in India and abroad. Youth will be assisted to make them eligible for jobs in different foreign countries for high-demand jobs in diverse sectors of construction work and other fields,' added Kaura. During his address, the SAD chief gave a call to party workers to make the party win the next assembly elections in 2027 while following the political footprints of the late Parkash Singh Badal. 'Bapu Badal dedicated his life to the overall development without any discrimination of faith. He was liked and respected, cutting across political or religious lines. His political legacy is our asset,' asserted Sukhbir. Akal Takht jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj remembered the late CM's role in constructing the Baba Banda Singh Bahadur War Memorial at Chappar Chiri, Mohali, and the Sham Singh Attariwala War Memorial on Heritage Street in Amritsar. Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) chief Harjinder Singh Dhami was also present on the occasion and cautioned the SAD leadership to stay away from those who indulge in sycophancy and backbiting. Former finance minister and Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) leader Manpreet Badal said a true tribute to the late CM is in working against anti-national forces, unemployment and batting for inclusive development.
BBC News
06-02-2025
- BBC News
How midnight fire kill 17 children, injure odas for Zamfara school
Dem don bury at least 17 almajiri children wey die afta fire burn down one school for Zamfara state, northwest Nigeria. Di fire tragedy wey bin happun overnight on Tuesday, also injure 12 oda children for Kauran Namoda. Chairperson of Kaura-Namoda Local Government, Mannir Haidara, wey confam di incident of di fire for Mallam Ghali Tsangaya Islamic school to tori pipo on Wednesday, say im go provide details about di incident later. One eyewitness, Yahaya Mahi, tell BBC say di fire bin start for one house near di Islamic school, before e come spread enta di school. "Initially dem bin quench am, but as pipo leave, di fire begin burn again. E start right in front of di door wia di students dey, blocking di door from wia dem go fit leave," Mahi tok. Tori be say di fire spread fast-fast through di school wia many of di children bin already dey asleep. Anoda pesin wey from di area, Abdulrasaq Kaura, wey tok wit tori pipo Channels TV add say na some sticks wey dem bin pack keep, wey dem dey call 'kara', na im cause di fire to spread. According to Kaura, di fire burn like mad for about three hours. Kaura say, "e happun for Makaranta Mallam Ghali, inside dia study hall. Na about 100 of dem dey for di house, afta dem carry di students comot, dem bin tink say nobody else remain for di house, na wen dem return afta di fire, dem begin see dia legs and hands, dem burn beyond recognition." Many of dem bin dey trap inside di building as di fire dey burn. By di time wey di help bin come, di fire don already kill many children. Area pipo say many oda children bin injure and dem rush dem go nearby health centres for treatment.
