India is among Top 3 targets for Ransomware attacks in APAC

Mumbai, Sep 18

India has emerged as one of the top three targets for ransomware attacks in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, according to the Global Threat Landscape Report: H1 2025 by Cyble, a US based cyber threat intelligence and monitoring startup.

Talking to Bizz Buzz, Nareshkumar Harale, VP, Cyber Security, ReBIT, says, “The report reveals a surge in ransomware and supply chain attacks globally, with India recording 21 ransomware incidents in the first half of the year—behind only Taiwan (37) and Singapore (32).”

The most important factors on which cybercriminal chose their targets are the economic and geo-political status, the extent and dependency on digital infrastructure, the implementation of strict law and control and the management the pace of digital infrastructure expansion vis-à-vis training and awareness of end-users.

Cdr KK Chaudhary (Rtd), cyber expert and author of ‘Why Cyber Criminals Succeed and Be Cyber Safe’ says, “India is the fastest growing economy in APAC region. The pace of digitization can be assessed from the success of just one UPI system which with over 650 million daily transactions has surpassed Visa’s 639 million across 200+ countries.”

It’s booming digital economy and heavy dependence on digital infrastructure in almost all aspects of business makes it a lucrative target for cybercriminals.

Ransomware groups, especially the state-sponsored ones, generally time their attacks to coincide with regional tensions and geopolitical events. India has emerged as a rising superpower and has fast changing geopolitical events around its boarders, making it prime target for its adversaries.

The report reveals a surge in ransomware and supply chain attacks globally, with India recording 21 ransomware incidents in the first half of the year—behind only Taiwan (37) and Singapore (32).

Unfortunately, India’s increasing reliance on digital infrastructure has outpaced its cybersecurity maturity. Lack of proper governance policies, misconfigurations of software, use of unpatched software, and human ignorance keep the system vulnerable to cyberattacks. This is the reason of success of cybercriminals and rising cyber incidents as reported in the survey.

Another report says that there is a fall in cyber related crimes in Mumbai. Why is the contrast?

Specific to Mumbai and Nagpur, I have come to know that the police department has enhanced its cyber investigation capabilities with better trained technical teams. This has enabled it for proactive policing, recovery and deterrence. As per publicly available information, 566 cases were solved and 507 accused were arrested in only the first half of 2025. I am also aware that business organization and state government have joined hands in in educating citizens about digital safety.

According to Chaudhary, “I am also aware of a new digital safety initiative ‘Garuda Drishti’ – a social media monitoring and cyber intelligence tool has been launched by the Maharashtra CM in Aug’25.”

This tool was developed by Nagpur Police as part of Cyber Hack 2025 competition. As per the available data, system has already analysed over 30,000 posts, flagged 650 offensive ones, and helped recover ₹10 crore.

Maharashtra Law enforcement agencies are now using Garuda Drishti to detect and prevent communal hatred, financial fraud, and other cybercrimes across the state. With this the number of cybercrime committed through social media is likely to fall further.

EoM.