30 million Indians were victims of cybercrime in 2010: Symantec

AHMEDABAD: Nearly 30 million people from India fell victim to cybercrime during the last one year suffering direct financial loss of $ 4 billion, according to a study by makers of Norton Internet security, Symantec.

"With the spread of internet, cybercrime has become more organised especially in the developing nations of the world," Symantec country sale manager in India Gaurav Kanwal told mediapersons here today.

"In India it is estimated that more than 29.9 million fell victim to cybercrime last year (2010), suffering direct financial loss of $ 4 billion (approx Rs 18,000 crore) and an additional $ 3.6 billion (approx Rs 16,200 crore) in time spent resolving the crime," Kanwal said stating the Norton Cybercrime Report 2011.

According to Kanwal, the study was conducted online by the company across 24 countries in February this year in which 20,000 people participated globally including 600 from India.

The study further states that the global monetary loss caused by cyber criminals amounted to $ 388 billion while 431 million adult fell victim to cyber crimes.

Kanwal said the study found that top six countries with higher number of cyber crime victims were all emerging markets like China on the top followed by South Africa, Mexico, Brazil, India and Singapore.