State of Ransomware in India - 2024

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Cloud Contact Center – Maximizing Customer Experience, Minimizing Complexities

76% Indians disassociate themselves from a brand if their response rate is low

• Indian customers today are growing mature. They value customer experience as high as the products or services offered by a brand.
• 87% of customers expect their brands to provide agile customer service and consistent experience irrespective of the channel used by them.
• Cloud Contact Centers are gaining popularity among businesses who want to bring down overall operations costs as well as provide quality and swift customer service.
• Many of the leading tech firms like Microsoft, Zoom have introduced their cloud contact center offerings keeping in mind the changing CX landscape.
• Several leading telcos in India too have started offering cloud contact center solutions by partnering with leading global contact center solution providers.
• Cloud contact centres played a significant role in India during the pandemic phase.
• State and central government agencies, healthcare departments across India were able to deploy cloud contact center swiftly to handle emergency situation.
• Cloud contact centres have been instrumental in bringing down overall Total Cost of Ownership for BPOs by more than 40%.

In recent times, cloud contact center solutions have evolved as new features are being integrated into these offerings.

Integration of features like artificial intelligence (AI) based systems, analytics and automation has helped in businesses exploring new possibilities using cloud contact center solutions.

The regulatory and compliance requirements restrict businesses in completely replacing their on-prem contact centres with cloud versions.

However, businesses are deploying these solutions for non-critical functions where agile customer service becomes a competitive factor.

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Why India Needs a 'Zero Trust' Cyber Security Posture

India has emerged as the one of the most targeted country by cyber criminals in 2023.

• In the first six months of 2023, CERT-In reported 112,000 cybersecurity incidents, signaling a significant rise in cyber threats within India.
• The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) experienced a severe data breach, compromising the data of 81.5 million citizens, making it the largest breach in India for the year 2023.
• Phishing attacks targeting India's financial sector surged by 50% in 2023, underlining an alarming increase in the risk of financial fraud and security breaches.
• According to a 2023 report by the Data Security Council of India (DSCI), Android devices in India faced an average of three cyberattacks each month, highlighting the persistent threat to mobile security.
• The DSCI identified around 400 million malware attack attempts in 2023, with malware being the culprit in approximately one in every 38,000 incidents.

Key Security Challenges:

• Critical Infrastructure Vulnerability: India's essential services, including power grids, transport, and communications, face significant cyberattack risks, threatening national security and public safety.
• Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs): APTs pose a sophisticated challenge, exemplified by RedEcho's 2021 discovery of a China-linked APT targeting India's power infrastructure, risking widespread outages.
• Cloud Vulnerability: The growing reliance on cloud solutions within India's cybersecurity landscape underscores the urgent need for robust digital and cloud security measures to protect against evolving threats.
• Data Breaches and Privacy Concerns: The move towards a digital economy increases vulnerability to data breaches, with significant implications for the privacy and security of both individuals and organizations in India.

Takeaway:

As cyber threats evolve, so must India's defenses, ensuring the protection of its digital assets and the security of its citizens in the digital age.

The push towards a Zero Trust security model, backed by global partnerships and advanced technology, is not just a necessity but an opportunity for India to secure its place as a resilient digital powerhouse on the world stage.

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Can Modern Servers Champion the Cause of ESG in India?

India among top 5 countries leading in IT asset Optimization initiatives

• Data centres across the globe continue to grow. Energy consumption has doubled and contribute approximately 5% to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
• India’s data center capabilities are expected to multiply 5 times in next 5 years with an energy consumption of nearly 4000 MW.
• Agencies like Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) have published a manual titled ‘Energy Efficiency Guidelines and Best Practices in Indian Data Centres’.
• Also, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology’s (MeITY) in its ‘Draft Data Centre Policy of 2020’ recommends the use of renewable energy resources.
• The policy recommends use of solar or wind based power – by collaborating with Ministry of Power for data center infrastructure.
• Companies like Infosys who achieved carbon neutrality in 2020 source 53% of their energy requirement of its data center through 60 MW solar capacity installed in its campuses.
• The Power Usage Effectiveness at its Indian data centres has a weighted average of 1.67, which is better than the global average data centre PUE of 1.8.
• In 2020, Microsoft launched its Circular Centres initiative to extend the useful life of its data centre servers and hardware assets.
• At Intel’s India campus, the company has saved approximately 2750 MWh of energy through smart lighting which is enough to run around 6 lac computers for 10 days.

In June 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Lifestyle for the Environment (LiFE) Movement’.

This movement aims at bringing measurable and scalable behaviour change solutions that can drive climate-friendly behaviors among individuals, communities and organisations.

As India continues to make its mark in the global digital map, government agencies, private entities and environmental bodies are all coming together to make India an epicentre of global ESG movement.

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Catching Up In the GenAI Race : How Far Is India From Its Own ChatGPT Moment?

India ranks as the world's second-largest digital data producer after China, with terabytes of data generated every month.

• The GenAI startup scene in India has flourished, marking a 1.5X rise in GenAI startups from 2021 to 2023.
• AI adoption in India, at 57%, exceeds both the U.S. (34%) and global average (25%), as per the Global AI Adoption Index Report.
• The Indian government actively supports AI development through National AI frameworks and a GPU Cluster to boost AI and GenAI applications.
• A NASSCOM-hosted industry roundtable, in partnership with the Telangana AI Mission and NASSCOM 10000 Startups, underscores increasing investor and VC interest in GenAI startups.
• Projects like 'Jugalbandi' are set to transform technological accessibility and dismantle language barriers, improving inclusivity for India's population.
• The absence of a robust GPU cloud infrastructure presents a challenge for India's GenAI advancements. However, Nvidia's collaborations with Reliance and Tata, alongside the government's ₹10,000 crore investment in GPU infrastructure, are promising steps toward resolution.
• The scarcity of local Large Language Models (LLMs) is also a concern, but the emergence of native LLMs from Indian companies like Krutrim and Sarvam AI indicates growing capabilities in this area.

For India to fully leverage GenAI's potential, a unified approach focusing on education, skill enhancement, and infrastructure development is essential. The combined efforts of the government, the private sector, and educational bodies are crucial for establishing a robust GenAI ecosystem in the country.

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Transforming Finance: How Fintech is Changing the Digital Game in India

India – 3rd biggest Fintech Ecosystem in the World

• India is set to be a global Fintech hub, projecting a $1.5 trillion market by 2025.
• The country accounts for 40% of global digital payments.
• In 6 years (2016-2022), fintech funding deals have grown by almost 82%.
• Fintech start-ups have doubled in the last five years to reach 9000 as of 2023.
• Government of India estimates the digital economy to contribute to more than 20% by 2026 (from the current 10%), and fintech is playing a significant role here.
• Traditional banks are also playing a crucial role in fintech ecosystem growth in India.
• Fintech companies provide “technology know-how”, and traditional banks provide “banking domain knowledge”, which helps in improving the banking ecosystem.
• Neobanks built on fintech are leading the banking innovation in India and are playing a vital role in the SME sector.
• SBI, India’s largest bank, has started the Fintech Innovation Incubation Program (FIIP) to nurture innovative fintech start-ups.
• YONO 2.0, SBIs digital banking platform, has plans to onboard 75-100 fintech, making it India’s biggest fintech engagement program.

The push by the government for the financial inclusion of every citizen is driving banking innovation in India. At the forefront of this innovation are fintech companies that are elevating technology to create new financial products and, at the same time, enhance the overall banking experience of every individual in the country.

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Tech Agility – Becoming Imperative for Indian Organizations

India – One of the Top 10 AI adopters in the World

• India ranked 6th in technological progress and AI investments.
• Country is expected to surpass Canada and South Korea in AI-related achievements.
• By 2026, cloud computing and related services are expected to contribute 10% to India’s GDP
• More than 80% of Indian organizations have employed the cloud in one form or another.
• India ranks 3rd in the World's most promising hub for technological innovations and development of disruptive technologies.
• Adoption rate of data analytics-related technologies among Indian companies is as high as 50%
• 5G technologies, Data Analytics, and AI/ML are expected to be where Indian businesses focus.
• India has witnessed the fastest 5G rollout in the World and reached 100 million users within 14 months of its launch.

The big digital push, conducive business environments, and growing appetite for new technologies are pushing enterprises in India to explore new tech-based solutions. Businesses are realizing that it is essential to have agile tech infrastructure that enhances internal processes and improves overall customer satisfaction.

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Is India the next Big hub for growing Global Tech Skill Demand

India – a 2nd largest talent pool for AI/ML and BDA globally.

• India has emerged as world’s primary sourcing destination for technical talents and has largest qualified pool of technical graduates.
• As per a NASSCOM study, India would need more than a million data science and AI professionals by 2026.
• “Future Skills Prime” is a partnership between MeitY and NASSCOM that is focused on reskill/upskill ~2Mn professionals in the area emerging technologies.
• There are currently ~416K AI/ML BDA tech talent in India.
• India has a supply of 2.2Mn STEM graduates annually, one of the largest in the world.
• India stands 1st in AI skill penetration with an overall score of 3.09 out of 5.
• Growing digitization has also led to multiplication of cloud professionals in the country.
• 33% of India’s data science and AI developer professionals are in the age group of 18 to 21.
• On the flip side, India has a shortage of nearly 1.5 million cyber security professionals.
• 3-11 lac is the investment needed in India for training individuals in cybersecurity.

The growing digitalization is creating huge demand for technology professionals in India. As the AI and data analytics startups continue to thrive, there will be further demand for tech talent. With initiatives like Skill India Mission and government-corporate partnerships, the skill gap challenges, especially in areas like cybersecurity can be addressed and this can make India, a global hub for tech talent.

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Cyber-attacks – Number 1 Cause for Business Disruptions in India

13.91 lac Security Incidents reported in 2022.

• India among top 20 countries where cost of data breach continues to remain high.
• As per Government of India, 13.91 lac security incidents were reported in 2022.
• Prime Minister of India, in recently held IMC 2023, emphasized on building indigenous capabilities in hardware, software and network infra to tackle cyber security risks.
• By 2027, India aims to ensure that every device connected to a network comes from a trusted source.
• India ranks first in digital payments with 89.5 million digital payment transactions. Second on the list is Brazil with 29.2 million transactions.
• The digital footprint of such big scale has garnered attention of cyber miscreants worldwide.
• In first half of 2023, India experienced approximately 2X more cyber-attack instances than the global average.
• In the first 5 months of 2023, there were more than 40000 job postings related to cyber security. However, 30% of these remained vacant.

In Q1 2023, the country witnessed an average of 2000 cyber-attacks weekly. The widening skill gap, the growing digital transactions continue to pose complex challenges. However, some positive signs have emerged with cyber security now part of National Security Policy the push from government to minimize reliance on foreign companies for its hardware, software and network infra needs.

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Growing Influence of CPaaS in India

Market is Expected to grow at a CAGR of 20% for next 5 years.

• CPaaS integrates communication features like voice, video, and messaging into business applications.
• CPaaS has grown as an effective and real-time medium for businesses to communicate with their customers. This communication can be message alerts, OTPs, marketing messages or calls and video-based customer service.
• As per a recent update, UPI transactions reached 10.58 billion in August 2023, a 61% surge compared to the previous month. Almost all the banks and financial entities in India have already deployed CPaaS to communicate in real-time with their banking customers.
• According to the I&B Ministry of India, there are close to 1.2 billion mobile users and 600 million smartphone users in India. The need for omnichannel customer service delivery coupled with increasing mobile-based interactions has prompted businesses to explore new possibilities with CPaaS
• With nearly 10 million Internet users added monthly, India is expected to grow as the second largest base for online shoppers in the world by 2030. The transaction and payment alerts on e-commerce platforms today are facilitated via CPaaS platforms.
• Also, the transactions and voice calls initiated from food delivery platforms like Swiggy and Zomato, along with ride-hailing services like OLA and Uber, have greatly influenced the need for solutions like CPaaS in India.
• Currently, around 60-65% of CPaaS usage by businesses is for transactional messages and around 15% for Over the top (OTT) platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, etc.
• While A2P messages are expected to continue dominating the CPaaS market in India, the emergence of technologies like Rich Communication Services (RCS) and OTT will see considerable influence in the near future.

The CPaaS market in India is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 20% for the next five years. The CPaaS market here is experiencing strong consolidation where global players are entering India either by partnering with existing Indian players or through acquisitions. The increasing demand for better and richer customer engagement will push businesses in every industry to embrace CPaaS sooner or later.