India has emerged as the second most targeted nation for cyber attacks globally, with 95 entities falling victim to data theft in 2024, according to CloudSEK’s ThreatLandscape Report 2024.
The report, based on dark web data monitoring, places the United States in the top spot with 140 attacks, driven by its economic clout and advanced digital infrastructure. Israel ranks third, with 57 attacks attributed to ongoing geopolitical tensions.
“India: Rapid digitization exposed 95 entities, making it the second most attacked nation,” the report stated.
Targeted sectors
The report highlights that cyber attackers in India primarily targeted the finance and banking sectors, which accounted for 20 victims. “This was followed by the government sector with 13 victims, telecommunications with 12, and the healthcare and pharma and education sectors with 10 and 9 victims, respectively.”
Data breaches
Major breaches included the leak of 850 million records of Indian citizen data from Hi-Tek Group, customer data from Star Health and Allied Insurance, and 2TB of sensitive information from Telecommunications Consultants India.
The report also identified 108 ransomware incidents in India during the year. Lockbit emerged as the most active ransomware group, responsible for over 20 attacks. Killsec followed with more than 15 incidents, while Ransomhub accounted for 12.
