Mumbai, Oct 10 (IANS): India detected 1,24,209 ransomware threats in the first half this year, with 65 per cent as file threats and 10 per cent as email threats, a report showed on Tuesday.

India now bears the highest ransomware incidence in south Asia at 3.44 per cent of the total 4.86 per cent incidents reported in the reporting period, according to Trend Micro report.

The country ranks fourth globally in online banking malware detection, with 8.2 per cent of global threats. In H1 2023, 5,609 online malware threats were identified.

India also ranks among the top five nations globally in malware detections, accounting for 5.5 per cent of all threats.

The government sector faced 18,862 malware attacks, while the banking sector faced 15,514 malware attacks in the first half this year.

“India's cybersecurity landscape is under siege as ransomware and malware threats reach alarming heights, prompting an urgent call for robust defence strategies,” the report mentioned.

These attacks targeted various sectors, with banking, manufacturing, and retail industries reporting the highest number of incidents.

Notable ransomware families such as StopCrypt, LOCKBIT, and BLACKCAT wreaked havoc in the Indian cybersecurity landscape.

In January this year Mimic, a new ransomware group, was also discovered that abuses legitimate search tools.

“India is at a crossroads in cybersecurity. As cybercriminals become more sophisticated, our digital defences are constantly being challenged,” said Vijendra Katiyar, Country Manager for India & SAARC at Trend Micro.

To stay ahead of the curve, organisations need to be proactive in anticipating threats and bolstering their defenses with a unified cybersecurity platform, he added.

Spam attachments also spiked significantly in June, with 3.9 million detections, a 1,242 per cent increase from the start of the year. PDFs emerged as the most commonly used spam attachment file type.