Cyber threat landscape in India is becoming more dangerous as the country emerged as a top-five geography in the world when it comes to the highest number of detections and malware detections; and online banking malware detections in the first half of 2023.

“India is among the top five countries globally for malware detections, accounting for 5.5 per cent 90,945 ransomware detections in the first half,” a mid-year cybersecurity report prepared by Trend Micro said.

Similarly, India is ranked number 4 globally in online banking malware detections, contributing to a concerning 8.2 per cent of all global threats. “In the first half of 2023, a substantial 5,609 online malware threats were identified,” the report said.

“India has also emerged as a top-3 geography for the highest detections of risk events in the first half of 2023, after the US and Brazil.

Affected sectors

The government sector faced 18,862 malware attacks, while the banking sector faced 15,514 malware attacks.

“Manufacturing, Government, and banking industries were the hardest hit in the country, with malware families like COIMINER, MIMIKATZ, and POWLOAD posing significant risks,” the report said.

“India is at a crossroads in cybersecurity. As cybercriminals become more sophisticated, our digital defenses are constantly being challenged. The rise of ransomware and malware attacks has had a significant impact on key sectors of our economy,” Vijendra Katiyar, Country Manager for India & SAARC at Trend Micro, said.

“To stay ahead of the curve, organisations need to be proactive in anticipating threats and bolstering their defenses with a unified cybersecurity platform,” he said.

Globally, over 85 billion threats were blocked in the first half of 2023, including 37 billion email threats and 46 billion malicious files.

“Globally, the top 3 industries that detected the highest number of ransomware attacks are banking, retail, and transportation,” the report said.

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