KPMG Unveils Mobile App Cyber KARE in India to Help Assess Cyber Security Index

In response to the urgent need in the market for a mechanism to assess the level of exposure to cyber risk in organisations, KPMG in India has launched ‘Cyber KARE’, a tool, aimed at empowering senior management to self-asses cyber threats and gauge their current level of preparedness to combat them.

The ‘Cyber KARE’ toolkit is designed for assessment to be performed by senior management and CxOs, and provides a quantitative output depicting organisation’s current positioning with respect to cyber risk exposure (CEI – Cyber Exposure Index) and cyber security preparedness (CPI – Cyber Preparedness Index).

“The adoption of emerging technologies has exposed the institutions to the evolving and growing landscape of cyber threats and vulnerabilities. The number of cases being reported on cybercrimes are growing at a rapid pace. Motivation around cybercrime may range from pure financial gain, to raising the profile of an ideology, to espionage or terrorism. It is important for the senior management to know organization’s cyber exposure and strategies to prepare against the same accordingly. Cyber KARE is a great initiative by KPMG to enable organizations to self- assess their cyber risk exposure.” said Navdeep Singh Virk – Commissioner of Gurgaon Police.

“Boards of large organisations have started to pay more attention to cyber risk, but there is much more they can do. They need to make sure that they have the right skills and knowledge and treat it as a broader business risk that impacts the organization beyond IT in areas such as new product and service development, and MandA,” said Malcolm Marshall - Partner and Global Head, Cybersecurity, KPMG.

Prevention, detection and response to cyber-attacks requires the combined efforts of both the public and private sectors, working to develop new technologies and new approaches, for maintaining real-time protection of their individual networks. Keeping this in mind, KPMG in India in association with Haryana police organised a session on cyber security to provide a platform to discuss and understand the current issues and threats.

Cybercrime is a clear and present danger that organisations are faced with in India. KPMG in India’s Cyber Crime Survey 2015, highlights that 72 per cent of organisations in India were subjected to cyber security attacks and 65 per cent of these attackers were driven to make financial gains. The survey also highlights that 64 per cent of these attacks are targeted to directors and senior management.

“There is a significant spurt in cybercrimes across enterprises and it is of paramount importance for management to realise that these are no longer a one-time phenomenon. The ‘Cyber KARE’ application is aimed at providing current readiness index to help manage cyber risk and support in development of holistic cyber security framework.” said Mritunjay Kapur - Partner and Head, Risk Consulting, KPMG in India.

The application ‘Cyber KARE’, is agnostic to the sector and size of organisation. It can be used by organisations irrespective of their maturity levels on cyber security journey.  Assessment through the ‘Cyber KARE’ toolkit can enable the management to monitor cyber risk at strategic level and develop adequate approach towards effective cyber risk management. This also provides ability to management to benchmark their progress on cyber security journey.