The growing digitisation of data has led to a rise in cyberattacks, digital fraud, data breaches and operational failures. Cyberattacks globally rose by 76% within the first quarter of 2024, with India being one of the most impacted countries.

Here are some of India’s biggest cyberattacks in 2024:

BSNL data breaches

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) suffered a data breach in June this year, with threat actor “kiberphant0m” claiming to have accessed over 278 GB of sensitive data, including international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) numbers, SIM card details, home location register data and security keys. The breach involved server snapshots that could be used for SIM cloning and extortion.

This was just six months after the state-owned telecom operator suffered a data breach in December 2023, where threat actor “Perell” released a sample data set on the dark web, including sensitive details of fibre and landline users of BSNL.

Angel One personal data leak

A data breach at Mumbai-based stock broking firm Angel One last year led to the personal information of 7.9 million customers being published on a hacker forum. The hacker also claimed to have accessed customers’ stock holdings and profit and loss statements.

WazirX cyberattack

Cryptocurrency platform WazirX experienced one of the largest cyberattacks on an Indian exchange in July, with hackers stealing $235 million worth of investor holdings, nearly half of the platform’s estimated reserves, affecting about 15 million users.

Ransomware attack on small Indian banks

Another significant cyber scam involved a ransomware attack that forced nearly 300 small Indian banks to go offline. Around one-fifth of the country’s 1,500 cooperative and rural regional banks were affected, with C-Edge Technologies, a service provider to these banks, being the target of the attack.

Fake wedding card scam

A new scam tactic this year involved fake wedding cards. Scammers send PDF wedding invitations via WhatsApp, which, when opened, download malware onto the recipient’s device.

By the numbers

Indians lost nearly Rs 12,000 crore to cyber scams this year, with scams increasing by 300%. A report from the non-profit Prahar predicts that India could face nearly 1 trillion cyberattacks annually by 2033, growing to 17 trillion by 2047.

This increase underscores the need for stronger cybersecurity across industries, especially in sectors targeted by cybercriminals.

A study by the Data Security Council of India (DSCI) and cybersecurity company Seqrite found that healthcare was the most targeted industry, with nearly 22% of attacks, followed by hospitality at 20%, banking and financial services at 17%, education at 16%, and micro, small, and medium enterprises at 8%.

State-wise, Telangana and Tamil Nadu were identified as the main hotspots, facing 15% and 12% of attacks, respectively. Bengaluru, India’s IT hub, accounted for around 12% of detected threats. Emerging commercial centres like Surat and Jaipur also experienced significant attacks, with about 15% and 12%, respectively.