Indian organisations see rising ransomware attacks

Bengaluru, 14 May: Indian organisations have been facing threats of ransomware attacks as one study finds that 64 per cent of domestic organisations faced such threats in 2023.

A report by cybersecurity firm, Sophos said that attacks had intensified last year with higher demand for ransoms coming from cyber-attackers.

The State of Ransomware in India 2024 report findings are derived from an independent survey of 5,000 IT decision makers across 14 countries, including 500 respondents in India, the company said in a press release.

The report said 44 per cent of impacted computers on average were encrypted in attacks against Indian victims. Similarly, 34 per cent of attacks included data theft in addition to encryption.

Importantly, the report found out that the average cost to recover from an attack was $1.35 million for Indian organisations.

On recovery of data, the report said 61 per cent of victims were able to recover data within a week, up from 59 per cent in 2022. While 96 per cent reported the attack to authorities, with 70 per cent receiving investigation assistance, it added.

"Prevention remains the most cost-effective ransomware strategy. Having solid defense-in-depth cybersecurity with anti-ransomware capabilities, ensuring in-depth defense protection with 24/7 monitoring is critical. At the same time, it is equally important to develop response capabilities, and comprehensive backup and recovery measures," said Sunil Sharma, Vice President, Sales, India and SAARC, Sophos.

"Continually reviewing security posture and incident response plans will also greatly improve an organisation's resilience against these relentless attacks," it added.

India as a geography has seen rising cyberattacks in recent years from rouge actors as the preparedness of many entities remain low. Especially, SMEs are vulnerable to such attacks.

###