New Delhi, July 11 (IANS) About 96 per cent of Indian small-and-medium businesses (SMBs) might consider paying cybercriminals in the event of ransomware extortion, a new report said on Thursday.

According to cybersecurity company ESET, about 88 per cent of Indian SMBs experienced breach attempts or incidents in the past 12 months.

“Our report reveals that although SMBs are confident in their security measures and IT expertise, the majority still faced cybersecurity incidents over the past year,” said Parvinder Walia, President of Asia Pacific & Japan at ESET.

The report, which surveyed over 1,400 IT professionals, found that ransomware, web-based attacks, and phishing emails emerged as the top concerns of Indian SMBs.

India and New Zealand experienced the highest number of security breaches or incidents, despite expressing the highest levels of confidence in their security systems.

Moreover, the report mentioned that 63 per cent anticipated a rise in cybersecurity spending over the next 12 months, with 48 per cent of these firms expecting to do so by more than 80 per cent.

SMBs in India are also planning significant cybersecurity enhancements over the next 12 months. About 38 per cent aim to deploy Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR), Extended Detection and Response (XDR), or Managed Detection and Response (MDR) solutions. Additionally, 33 per cent plan to incorporate cloud-based sandboxing, 36 per cent will implement full-disk encryption, and 40 per cent will focus on vulnerability and patch management, the report said.

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 11 (IANS) As India aims to become the world’s third largest economy soon, the banking sector is undergoing a decade-high performance in financial metrics, according to Swaminathan J, Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

According to him, the central bank is busy improving the auditing process to safeguard the integrity and stability of financial institutions.

“Auditors and chief financial officers are key pillars of financial integrity and governance in our banking system. Auditors must apply due rigor in their audit processes to mitigate any potential for divergence, under-provisioning, or non-compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements, said Swaminathan at a conference in Mumbai.

Swaminathan said that the RBI has introduced structured meetings between supervisory teams and auditors, exception reporting, and streamlined auditor appointment processes.

He also cautioned Chief Financial Officers against the evergreening of loans and fraudulent transactions through certain bank accounts with large corpus amounts without valid reasons.

Swaminathan also emphasised the importance of collaboration between stakeholders in the banking financial system.

Meanwhile, India’s Financial Inclusion Index (FI-Index) for the financial year ended March 31, 2024, improved to 64.2 compared to 60.1 in March 2023, with growth witnessed across all sub-indices, the RBI announced.

The improvement in the FI-Index reflects a deepening of financial inclusion across the country.

There has been a renewed national focus on financial inclusion, promoting financial education and literacy and making credit available to productive sectors of the economy including the rural and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector which has led to the improvement in the FI-Index.

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 11 (IANS) Homegrown Indkal Technologies on Thursday announced its foray into the smartphone market under a trademark licencing agreement with the Taiwanese electronics company Acer, in which it will design, manufacture and distribute smartphones under the Acer brand in India.

“Our customers will experience exceptionally well-designed smartphones with high-end processors, top-notch camera technology and a host of premium features across the range,” Anand Dubey, CEO of Indkal Technologies, said in a statement.

Indkal Technologies will launch a wide range of smartphone models under the Acer brand in mid-2024, expecting to quickly build strong momentum and a significant market share.

“We are excited that Indkal Technologies will further this mission in India by providing a wide range of smartphones under the Acer brand that expand end-user choices and enrich their experience in the Indian market,” said Jade Zhou, VP of Global Strategic Alliances at Acer Incorporated.

This venture signifies the entry of a major computing brand into the Indian smartphone market, highlighting the segment’s immense growth potential.

With a focus on smartphones priced between Rs 15,000 to Rs 50,000, this market will now see strong competition, the company said.

These devices will be available for purchase through both e-commerce platforms and offline retail stores across the country.

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 11 (IANS) The revenue growth for the Indian auto component industry is expected to moderate in FY2025, about 5 to 7 per cent, after a strong performance in FY2024, a new report showed on Thursday.

According to rating agency ICRA, operating margins are expected to improve year-on-year in FY25, driven by factors like better operating leverage and higher value addition.

“Demand from domestic original equipment manufacturers (OEM) constitutes over 50 per cent of sales for the Indian auto component industry and the pace of growth in the segment is expected to moderate in FY2025,” said Vinutaa Sriraman, VP and Sector Head – Corporate Ratings, ICRA Limited.

“Growth in replacement demand is pegged at 5-7 per cent, after two to three years of healthy growth, following a relatively weak Q1 in the current fiscal,” she added.

The sample for the report included 46 auto ancillaries with aggregate annual revenues of over Rs 3,00,000 crore in FY2024.

Further, the report projected that the industry to incur capex of Rs 20,000-25,000 crore in FY2025 towards capacity expansion and technological developments.

Capex is anticipated to hover around 8-10 per cent of operating income over the medium term, with the PLI scheme also contributing to accelerating capex towards advanced technology and EV components.

On the exports front, new vehicle registrations in Europe and the US are expected to remain tepid over the next few quarters, impacted by the weak global macroeconomic environment and geopolitical tensions.

The ageing of vehicles and increased sales of used vehicles in global markets are also expected to aid in the export of components for the replacement segment in overseas markets.

The report further mentioned that the electric vehicle (EV) linked opportunities, premiumisation of vehicles, focus on localisation, and changes in regulatory norms to support stable growth for auto component suppliers.

EVs to account for around 25 per cent of domestic two-wheeler sales and 15 per cent of passenger vehicle sales by 2030. This would translate into a strong market potential for EV components by 2030, the report said.

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 11 (IANS) The government on Thursday awarded seven new projects to startups under the Technology Development Fund scheme for various requirements of the Armed Forces and aerospace and defence sectors.

The move is aimed at nurturing micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and startups in the defence and aerospace sectors, said the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO).

“The indigenous development of these technologies will strengthen the military-industrial ecosystem,” it added.

One such project aims to develop an indigenous toolkit for simulator training of pilots in realistic scenarios to help in full mission planning and large-force engagement. This project has been awarded to Noida-based startup Oxygen 2 Innovation.

Another project is for an underwater Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). It relates to versatile marine battlefield accessories which can be deployed in multiple combat roles.

“The objective is Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) and Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA). The project has been awarded to Sagar Defence Engineering Pvt Ltd, Pune,” said the DRDO, which comes under the Ministry of Defence.

Under the project titled ‘Long-range Remotely Operated Vehicles for Detection & Neutralisation’, the task is to build dual-use systems that will enable the detection, classification, localisation and neutralisation of underwater objects while keeping the key assets away from the suspected operational area.

This project has been awarded to IROV Technologies Pvt Ltd in Kochi.

Another project, ‘Ice Detection Sensor for Aircraft’, aims to develop detecting icing condition inflight, caused by super-cooled water droplets that freeze after their impact against the aircraft’s external surfaces and are utilised by the aircraft for turning on the aircraft Anti-icing mechanism.

“It has been awarded to Craftlogic Labs Pvt Ltd, Bengaluru,” the DRDO informed.

The ‘Radar Signal Processor with Active Antenna Array Simulator’ will enable the deployment of multiple target systems for test and evaluation of multiple short-range aerial weapon systems.

“It serves as the basic building block for larger radar systems. The project has been sanctioned to Data Pattern (India) Limited, Chennai,” according to the government.

The ‘Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System-based Timing Acquisition & Dissemination System’ project has been sanctioned to Accord Software & Systems in Bengaluru.

It aims to enable the indigenisation of timing acquisition and dissemination system, the use of Indian Constellation for acquiring time & development of a customised and flexible timing system as per range requirements.

Coimbatore-based startup Alohatech has been awarded the project to develop conductive yarn and fabric-making processes using graphene nanomaterials and conductive inks.

The outcome will be advanced E-textiles, utilising the inherent advantages for practical clothing applications, the DRDO said.

–IANS

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