India's average data breach costs hit $2.18 mn in 2023, up 28% since 2020

Phishing is the most prevalent form of cyberattack in India, accounting for about 22% of incidents, followed by incidents involving stolen or compromised credentials at 16%

The average cost of data breaches in India reached $2.18 million in 2023, marking a 28 per cent increase since 2020, according to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Report on Currency and Finance.

The RBI highlighted that phishing is the most prevalent form of cyberattack in India, accounting for about 22 per cent of incidents, followed by incidents involving stolen or compromised credentials at 16 per cent.

“The most common attacks in India are phishing (22 per cent), followed by stolen or compromised credentials (16 per cent),” the report said.
 

Globally, the financial impact of cybercrime is projected to soar to $13.82 trillion by 2028, rising from $8.15 trillion in 2023. Additionally, the average cost of a data breach worldwide has climbed to $4.45 million in 2023, reflecting a 15 per cent increase over the past three years, according to the RBI report.

“Recognising the significant costs involved, most central banks have increased their cyber security investment budgets by 5 per cent since 2020,” the report mentioned.

In India, the number of security incidents managed by the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) has surged from 53,117 in 2017 to 1.32 million between January and October 2023. Unauthorised network scanning, probing, and vulnerable services constitute over 80 per cent of all security incidents in the country, the RBI report showed.

When analysing cyberattacks across various industries in India, the automotive sector emerges as the most vulnerable, facing substantial threats targeting smart mobility APIs and electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure.

The Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI) sector, governed by stringent regulations, enjoys comparatively better protection against such attacks. “With the increasing adoption of digital payments, the share of complaints related to mobile/electronic banking, ATM/debit cards and credit cards received in the offices of the RBI ombudsman accounted for 47 per cent of total complaints in 2022-23,” the report said.

The RBI report further stated that digitalisation is also leading to the emergence of ‘invisible risks’ or ‘dark patterns’, where consumers are manipulated into making choices that are harmful to their interests.