Indian businesses saw 235,472 ransomware incidents from Jan-Dec 2023

In 2023, India witnessed ransomware attacks against different organisations - a major healthcare institution, government departments, Indian telecom company, as well as power and utility company

A total of 235,472 ransomware incidents hit businesses in India in 2023, according to a latest report by Kaspersky cybersecurity solutions.

A major healthcare institution, government departments, an Indian telecom company, as well as a power and utility company were among the targets of ransomware attacks during the January to December 2023 period. In most cases, the malicious software took down the servers.

“The era of widespread mass attacks by encryptors on both individuals and businesses is gradually fading away. Instead, we are witnessing a shift towards organised groups that execute hacks involving data theft and encryption, commonly referred to as double extortion. The rationale behind this evolution lies in the perpetrators’ ability to operate with greater efficiency, thereby enabling them to demand significantly higher ransom sums,” says Fedor Sinitsyn, Lead Malware Analyst at Kaspersky.

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One instance involved cybercriminals demanding a ransom of ~10 million for return of the stolen data, said the Kaspersky report.

According to Kaspersky security experts, ransomware attacks have been causing waves globally and is becoming prevalent in India as well.

For example, Fonix Ransomware targeted manufacturing, retail, agriculture, media and healthcare companies in India. This group ran the malware attack as a Ransomware-as-a Service.

LockBit is another ransomware that attacked major organisations in India by infecting Windows systems. In fact, it is the first ransomware to infect Apple systems as well.

“We predict that in 2024, ransomware attacks on big organisations will become even more prevalent. Threats like extortion, operation disruption, and data theft and leak will become more and more common. As a result, enterprises and organisations need to look into cybersecurity technologies that provide absolute anti-ransomware effectiveness in third-party exams. It’s time to take this ransomware menace seriously,” says Jaydeep Singh, General Manager for South Asia at Kaspersky.

Experts from the global cybersecurity company insist on organisations, regardless of shape and size, to beef up their IT security posture as ransomware, especially the targeted type, continues to be a damaging menace for organisations in the country.