India's Critical Infrastructure Suffers Spike in Cyberattacks

A variety of rapidly digitized critical infrastructure sectors in India — from finance to government systems and from manufacturing to healthcare — now are facing increased cyberattacks and cyber threats.

Consider this: A hacking group in April of this year leaked 7.5 million records containing personal information stolen from India's leading manufacturer of wireless audio and wearable devices boat. Most recently, the Reserve Bank of India — the nation's central bank — called out increased digitization as a potential risk for the country's financial infrastructure. Cyber incidents against finance and handled by the national CERT team jumped to some 16 million incidents in 2023, up from 53,000 in 2017, according to a recent report by RBI.

The vast majority of banks and most non-bank financial companies (NBFCs) consider cybersecurity to be a primary challenge to their ability to transition to digital technologies, according to the bank's report. "Digitalisation could pose financial stability concerns owing to cybersecurity threats, data breaches, and the speed at which information and rumours can flow through the system," the RBI stated in its report. "Cyber fraudsters are increasingly targeting financial institutions instead of end users globally."

Related:AI in Healthcare Demands Vigilant Security Measures

India's financial sector is not alone. Public sector and government systems have seen a dramatic increase in cyberattacks, with most installation seeing cyberattacks grow by at least half.

Earlier this year, a hacking group targeted government agencies and energy companies with a Trojan dubbed HackBrowserData. Meanwhile, Pakistan, and China frequently target Indian organizations in cyber operations, such as recent Cosmic Leopard operations in the region.

Overall, 83% of organizations in India reported at least one cybersecurity incident in the last year, placing the country at No. 4, behind Vietnam (94%), New Zealand (90%), and Hong Kong (86%) in rankings for the Asia-Pacific region, according to a Cloudflare report.

On a global level, the country is the fifth most breached nation and needs to focus more on cybersecurity, says Partha Gopalakrishnan, founder of PG Advisors, an AI and digital transformation consultancy.

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