31% rise in malware attacks in India last year, says new report

New Delhi: India has seen a massive surge in malware attacks in 2022. A new report said that the country saw 31% more attacks than the year before.

According to a SonicWall report, there has been a 10% increase in "intrusion attempts" and a 53% increase in "ransomware attacks" compared to 2021. It also noted a 116% rise in "crypto-jacking attacks" and an 84% rise in "IoT attacks".

Debasish Mukherjee, Vice President - APJ at SonicWall, said that the rate of malware attacks has decreased in other regions but they remain alarmingly high in India. "In countries like India, threat actors are expanding their scope of attack, employing different methods and targeting various areas. These threat actors persistently search for opportunities and repeatedly strike upon achieving success. The increase in cyberattacks in India can be attributed to both the evolving strategies of threat actors and their exploration of new avenues for success, including IoT and crypto-jacking."

The executive highlighted that it was essential for organisations to understand the tactics, techniques, and procedures employed by attackers. "By adopting threat-informed cybersecurity strategies, businesses can effectively defend against and recover from disruptive incidents."

SonicWall is a cybersecurity solutions provider based in the US and the company has over 500 employees in India. 55% of its Indian customers are enterprise clients and 45% are SMEs. "Organisations are constantly facing an evolving threat landscape, where threat actors are finding new and creative ways to stay ahead of the enterprise," said Mukherjee.