Over the past year, India witnessed a steep rise in cyberattacks. While news focused on big-ticket data breaches and mainstream ransomware attacks, it ignored how the overall threat landscape has become more sophisticated and ingrained.
India detected over 369 million malware events between October 2023 and September 2024, at a rate of 702 potential threats per minute on average. This is reflective of a wider, more structural issue, as bad actors are using sophisticated techniques and are exploiting every vulnerability they can get their hands on.
Cyber attacks surged in India, 15% more in Q1 and a staggering 30% year-over-year by Q2. The first half of 2024 alone saw 593 reported cyberattacks, impacting education, government, technology, and other critical sectors. But this is not a game of numbers alone. It's about how quickly cyber threats are gaining momentum, and how glacially so many entities are moving. As India ramps up its digital-first economy, it's becoming a coveted target.
The Financial Sector: A Perfect Target in a Perfect Storm
India's financial services ecosystem has grown exponentially in recent years. From digital wallets to UPI to neobanks, the velocity of innovation is remarkable. But with that innovation has come exposure. The more interconnected the systems, the more places there are to attack.
In 2024, cyberattacks on banks and financial firms more than doubled. They came as big ransomware strikes and sneaky frauds like Business Email Compromise. Payment systems and outside connections grew weak. Hackers used tricks and broken links to get in.
Yes, banks are deploying multi-factor authentication and real-time monitoring. But the reality is that speed-to-market often trumps security, and when security is bolted on rather than baked in, it shows. A compromised vendor or a well-crafted phishing email can still slip through the cracks.
The financial sector isn't lacking in regulations or technology. What's often missing is a security-first mindset that sees resilience not as an IT checkbox but as a business imperative.
Healthcare: When Patient Data Becomes Collateral Damage
In 2024, 21% of all reported cyber incidents in India targeted healthcare. Why? Because healthcare data is valuable and vulnerable.
Hospitals and clinics, already stretched thin by tight budgets and outdated technology, are bearing the brunt of ransomware attacks. One breach can expose thousands of medical records, halt operations, and impact patient outcomes.
Many healthcare providers still lack basic cybersecurity measures. They use unencrypted communications, have flat networks, and run medical devices that are poorly secured.
Security teams face a tough fight on two fronts: defending against outside attacks while trying to update old systems. This is hard, especially when some believe security slows down patient care. But without strong security, the cost is more than money, it can cost lives.
Manufacturing: Smart Factories, Dumb Threat Models
India's manufacturing sector is rapidly embracing Industry 4.0. Connected factories, automation, AI-driven production lines. But digitization, while boosting efficiency, has also opened up a vast new attack surface.
The days when cybercriminals only cared about information are over. They're interfering with control systems, hijacking operational technology, and using ransomware that can halt production. These threats are happening in real time.
And yet, many manufacturers still operate with minimal cybersecurity oversight. Legacy machines with hardcoded passwords, no network segmentation, and blind spots in monitoring make for easy pickings. In some cases, the cyber risk isn't even on the boardroom radar until after the damage is done.
The rise in attacks on this sector highlights a simple truth: you can't automate your way to efficiency without investing in securing that automation.
A Nation Responds, But Is It Enough?
To their credit, Indian businesses and government agencies are taking action. We're seeing broader adoption of AI-powered threat detection systems and smarter incident response capabilities. The National Cyber Security Policy is being updated, threat intel sharing is improving, and regulatory frameworks are growing more stringent.
But here's the catch: technology alone won't save us.
Security isn't a product you buy. It's a culture you build. And that means investing in people, not just platforms. Human error still drives a significant percentage of breaches. Phishing, credential theft, misconfigurations. These aren't technical failures, they're behavioral ones.
Security awareness training, role-based access controls, and red team exercises are just as critical as firewalls and endpoint protection. If you're not training your employees to recognize a threat, you're leaving the front door wide open.
Looking Ahead: Where the Real Battle Lies
What we're witnessing in India is more than a surge in cyber attacks. It's a stress test of digital resilience. And the early results aren't great.
The challenge now is threefold:
- Shrink the talent gap by investing in training and upskilling.
- Break down silos between IT, security, and business operations.
- Fuel a culture where security isn't seen as an obstacle, but a core value.
The next wave of threats will be faster, smarter, and more coordinated. Driven by AI, fueled by geopolitical tensions, they aim at our most critical systems. What worked in 2020 won't cut it in 2025.
Taking Matters into Their Own Hands
The best line of defense is, as always, a good offense. Fortra provides organizations with tools for both, helping India-based businesses pull out ahead despite a perilous threat climate.
Fortra Security Awareness Training (SAT) helps build the security culture so many newly digitized industrial manufacturers lack.
Fortra Identity & Access Management enables teams to implement strong role-based access controls to operate on the principle of least privilege and reduce the risk surface.
Fortra Offensive Security solutions like vulnerability management, penetration testing, and red teaming bring hidden threats to the surface and put teams through their paces. That way, when real-world attacks happen – and they will – Indian organizations will be ready.
As businesses around the world struggle through their own cyber maturity growing pains, they cannot afford to wait for threats to slow down or legislation to increase. Instead, they must take a proactive stance and implement cybersecurity solutions that can plug security gaps today.
Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed in this and other guest author articles are solely those of the contributor and do not necessarily reflect those of Fortra.
