Intel Considers Sale of Cyber Security Business: Report

New York: Chipmaker Intel is considering the sale of its cyber security business, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.

According to the report, the company has been talking to its bankers about options for the Intel Security unit, which was previously known as McAfee.

Intel bought McAfee for $7.7 billion in 2011. A spokesperson for Intel could not be immediately reached for comment.

Cyber security has been an important issue for internet users across the globe. Talking about India, cyber crimes rose 19 times over the last 10 years (2005 to 2014), from 481 in 2005 to 9,622 in 2014.

India is now ranked third - after the US and China - as a source of "malicious activity" on the internet, second as a source of "malicious code" and fourth and eight as a source or origin for web attacks and network attacks.

Internet subscribers in India crossed the 400 million mark, and are expected to reach 462 million by June 2016.

As many as 9,622 cyber crimes were reported in 2014, an increase of 69 per cent over 2013. Of these, 7,201 were reported as offences under the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2,272 under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and 149 under Special and Local Laws (SLL).

Under the IT Act, the most - 5,548 cases - reported were computer-related offences, of which 4,192 were under Section 66A, which allows for jail terms up to two-three years for sending "offensive messages through communication service" and related offences.

Cyber security crimes, such as phishing, scanning, introducing malicious code, website intrusion and denial of service, rose 76 percent over the last five years, from 28,127 in 2011 to 49,455 in 2015.

Intel said in April that it planned to cut up to 12,000 jobs globally as it refocuses its business toward making microchips that power data centres and Internet-connected devices and away from the declining personal computer industry it helped found.

(With inputs from Reuters)