Kaspersky has partnered with Bharti Airtel (Airtel) – India’s premier communications solutions provider, to ensure instant security for internet users in India. The collaboration between the two companies will allow Airtel customers to purchase Kaspersky Total Security solution directly from the Airtel Thanks app in a matter of few clicks. What’s more! Airtel customers also enjoy exclusive deals on these advanced solutions from Kaspersky.
Airtel customers simply need to download the latest version of Airtel Thanks app> Go to ‘Shop’ section> Go to lifestyle offers> Click on the Kaspersky banner and get started. Airtel Thanks also enables seamless payments through cards, net banking and UPI. The alliance is formed with the aim to increase the cybersecurity awareness amongst Indian internet users and encourage them to practice cyber safety in the wake of growing cyberthreats.
Cyberthreats are constantly evolving and cybercriminals in the past 2 years have been actively targeting internet users in India. In the first quarter of 2021 Kaspersky products detected 37,650,472 different Internet-borne cyberthreats. Mobile users are also at risk as cybercriminals are constantly targeting them for financial gains, as well as to obtain important private data. Mobile threats in India have drastically increased since 2019 and are becoming more targeted and sophisticated in nature. India ranked 7th amongst the countries attacked with Mobile Threats in 2020.
The top mobile threats targeted at the smartphone users globally were, Adware which topped the list with 57% (3,254,387 detections).Talking about the other threats, the number of backdoors detected almost tripled from 28,889 in 2019 to 84,495 in 2020. The number of detected Android exploits increased seventeen fold, and the number of Trojan- Proxy threats had increased by twelve times. Kaspersky solutions detected 156,710installation packages for mobile banking Trojans in 2020, which is twice the number of attacks detected in 2019. However, a decline in ransomware trojans was witnessed as we found 20,708 installation packages for ransomware Trojans in 2020, a decrease of 3.5 times as compared to the previous year.
Mr Eugene Kaspersky, CEO of Kaspersky, said: “We’re very much looking forward to supporting Bharti Airtel, the leading global telecommunications company and one of the biggest mobile service providers, in its goal to protect their users, create a more secure internet, and build a safer digital world together with Kaspersky.”
Mr Pradipt Kapoor, CIO, Bharti Airtel, said: “Airtel is working round the clock to deliver a secure network experience through world-class infrastructure and partnerships. We are delighted to partner with Kaspersky and make their solutions easily accessible for Airtel customers, who can purchase and install these in a matter of minutes and enjoy complete peace of mind.” 
“Malicious apps, to spyware, mobile banking trojans, adware, phishing attacks, ransomware attacks, etc, are some of the most risky threats that a smartphone user has to be safe and secure from at all times. The first and the easiest step towards practicing cyber safety is by installing a reliable security solution to our devices. Increasing our cyber maturity and being aware of the constantly evolving threats is also the responsibility of an online user, in order to protect themselves from the nefarious cybercriminals,” said Mr. Dipesh Kaura, General Manager, Kaspersky (South Asia).
