CHENNAI: India is the most targeted country with 13.7% of all cyber attacks of the world take place in the country, according to a cyber-security report. The number of attacks on government agencies has increased 95% in the second half of 2022 compared to the same period in 2021, according to India Threat Landscape report 2023 by Cyfrima, a Singapore-based cybersecurity intelligence firm.
Healthcare is the most targeted sector by hackers followed by education, research, government and military sectors. The report mentions that an organization in India was attacked 1,866 times per week on average in 2022. The number of state-sponsored cyber attacks in India increased by more than 100% in 2022 compared to 2021.
The most common types of cyberattacks in India are phishing, malware and ransomware attacks. 78% of Indian organisations experienced a ransomware attack in 2021. The report warns about the link between geo-political factors and threat actors uniting against India. India’s growing prominence and low cybersec maturity has played a key role in hackers coming after critical assets, govt agencies with an intent to breach them and harm India’s strategic interests, it noted.
Between January and July 2023, Cyfirma observed 39 campaigns targeting various industries in India. “Known groups like FancyBear, TA505, Mission 2025, Stone Panda and Lazarus Group are suspected to be behind these campaigns. Of these 39 campaigns, 14 have been orchestrated by China State sponsored groups with an intent of espionage. 11 of these campaigns were planned by North Korea backed hackers a part of HaaS. While 10 attacks originated from Russian threat actors, of which only 4 were state sponsored,” the report said.