Vulnerabilities in India's digital infra spur rise in cyberattacks: Experts

SaaS and conglomerate companies experienced ten times more attacks than the preceding quarter, according to the study

A large digital footprint and vulnerabilities in India’s technological infrastructure due to the rapid pace of deployment are the reasons why India is witnessing an increasing number of cyberattacks in recent times, according to experts.

“The rapid pace of digital transformation in India has sometimes resulted in the deployment of complex technological infrastructures with inherent vulnerabilities. Weaknesses in these systems can make them attractive targets for cyberattacks,” said Kumar Ritesh, founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Cyfirma.

India witnessed a 70 per cent rise in cyberattacks in the third quarter (Q3) this year, with more than 1.6 billion blocked attacks across the globe originating from the country, according to a recent study by Indusface.

The State of Application Security Report by Indusface said that around 90 per cent of India’s banking and insurance sectors faced bot attacks in Q3 of this year.

“With the government’s push towards a cashless economy, there has been a surge in digital payment transactions. This has attracted the attention of cybercriminals who seek to exploit vulnerabilities in payment systems and steal sensitive financial information,” added Ritesh.

Software-as-a-service and conglomerate companies experienced 10 times more attacks than the preceding quarter, according to the study.

In Q3, eight of 10 sites found themselves targeted by bot attacks, and the number of overall bot attacks was 56 per cent higher compared to the previous quarter.

Furthermore, almost every website falling under the health care domain faced bot attacks during this quarter.

Cybersecurity experts believe that the increased use of Big Data and artificial intelligence (AI) has led to the ‘hoarding’ of data with the hope of monetising it in the future, leading to an increase in the number of cyberattacks in India.

“With the advent of Big Data and AI, organisations have been hoarding enormous amounts of data with the hope to monetise it in the future, diminishing ownership and accountability with their internal business owners. This has led to many high-profile incidents across the world,” said Vishal Salvi, CEO of Quick Heal Technologies.

“The provisions of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act will establish accountability for the misuse of personal data and also help organisations reduce their attack surface by enforcing data retention and purging policies,” he added.

The report found India, the US, the UK, Russia, and Singapore as the major source countries of cyberattacks across the globe.

“Around 46,000 vulnerabilities were identified during Q3, with a concerning 32 per cent remaining unaddressed for over 180 days, underscoring the urgency for immediate action," says the report.

To mitigate the increasing number of cyberattacks in India, cybersecurity experts call for the use of AI, large language models, and machine learning to develop intelligent systems that are capable of identifying and responding to cyber threats autonomously.

These technologies can adapt to new patterns and trends in data, providing a dynamic defence against cyberattacks, say experts.