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According to Check Point Software Technologies' latest report, The State of Global Cyber Security 2025, India is witnessing an alarming rise in cyberattacks, with organizations facing an average of 3,291 attacks per week, the highest in the world. That's 44% higher than the weekly average of 1,847 cases.
The healthcare sector was found to be the most vulnerable, with each organization receiving an average of 8,614 attacks per week, followed by the education and government sectors, with 7,983 and 4,731 attacks reported respectively.
Additionally, ransomware attacks against the healthcare sector have increased by 47%, with attackers prioritizing data exfiltration and extortion over traditional encryption methods.
Globally, cyberattacks have skyrocketed by 44%, and new tactics are reshaping the threat landscape. Russian and Chinese nation-state actors are moving from acute attacks to long-term attacks aimed at undermining trust and destabilizing systems.
BYOD threat
The report identifies several key threats in India, including the rise in remote access trojans (RATs), information thieves such as Formbook, and ransomware types such as Maze. In particular, there has been a 58% increase in Infostealer attacks that take advantage of bring-your-own-device (BYOD) environments, where more than 70% of infected devices are personal.
The increased use of generative AI (GenAI) tools is further amplifying these threats through disinformation campaigns, deepfake videos, and targeted phishing scams.
However, edge devices such as routers and VPNs have become common entry points for attackers, with over 200,000 devices controlled by botnets worldwide. Alarmingly, 96% of exploits in 2024 targeted vulnerabilities disclosed in the previous year, highlighting the urgent need for proactive patch management.
India's cybersecurity challenges have been exacerbated by massive data breaches. In one incident, a misconfiguration of a Microsoft S3 bucket database resulted in the exposure of 500 GB of biometric data, including data from law enforcement and military personnel. Such breaches not only put privacy at risk, but also increase the risk of exploitation during important events such as elections.
This report suggests that organizations take a multi-layered approach to cybersecurity to combat these escalating threats. Key measures include strengthening BYOD security, investing in threat intelligence, improving patch management, securing edge devices, and developing a robust incident response plan.
