An Indian firm facing 1,738 cyber attacks a week on average: Report

According to a report by Check Point Research (CPR), an Indian organisation faced cyber-attack 1,738 times on average per week in the last six months. The most impacted industries were education/research, government/military, insurance/legal, manufacturing and healthcare.

New Delhi: An organisation in India faced cyber-attack 1,738 times on average per week in the last six months compared to 757 attacks per organisation globally, a report showed.

The most impacted industries in India in the last six months were education/research, government/military, insurance/legal, manufacturing and healthcare, according to the report by Check Point Research (CPR), the Threat Intelligence arm of Check Point Software Technologies.

Cybercriminals have continued to exploit the COVID-19 pandemic and highlight a dramatic 93 percent increase in the number of ransomware attacks globally, said the ‘Cyber Attack Trends: 2021 Mid-Year Report'.

At 1,338, organisations in the APAC region faced the highest number of cyber-attacks weekly, followed by EMEA at 777 and Americas at 688.

"In the first half of 2021, cybercriminals have continued to adapt their working practices in order to exploit the shift to hybrid working, targeting organizations' supply chains and network links to partners in order to achieve maximum disruption," said Maya Horowitz, VP Research at Check Point Software.

"This year cyber-attacks have continued to break records and we have even seen a huge increase in the number of ransomware attacks, with high-profile incidents such as Solarwinds, Colonial Pipeline, JBS or Kayesa," he added.

The report forecast that in the second half of 2021, ransomware will grow, despite law enforcement stepping up.

"Ransomware attacks will continue to proliferate despite increased investment from governments and law enforcement, especially as the Joe Biden Administration makes this a priority," the report mentioned.

The growing trends of triple extortion, supply chain attacks and even just remote cyber-attacks may affect businesses more than ever.

"The triple extortion trend in ransomware now includes not only the original target organization, but also its customers, partners and vendors. This multiplies the actual victims of each attack and requires a special security strategy," the report mentioned.

(Inputs from IANS)