India among top 3 ransomware attack targets in Asia-Pacific
What's the story
India has been ranked among the top three targets for ransomware attacks in the Asia-Pacific region, a recent report by Cyble revealed. The country recorded a total of 21 such incidents in the first half of 2025, trailing only Taiwan and Singapore. The information technology (IT), banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), and manufacturing sectors were the most affected by these attacks.
Financial impact
Rising costs of data breaches
The financial impact of data breaches in India has also increased significantly. A report by IBM found that the average cost of a data breach in the country now stands at ₹22 crore, a 13% increase from last year's ₹19.5 crore. However, companies that have adopted artificial intelligence (AI) and security automation have been able to reduce these breach costs by over half.
Unregulated AI use
Shadow AI exacerbating data breach costs
The rise of "Shadow AI," or the use of AI tools by employees without IT or compliance oversight, is a major contributor to data breaches. IBM's report revealed that Shadow AI adds an average of ₹1.8 crore per incident in India. Yet, less than half the organizations surveyed had any policy in place to manage or detect this unregulated use of technology.
Policy gaps
Lack of AI governance policies
The IBM report also highlighted a major gap in AI governance policies among Indian organizations. Nearly 60% of these firms either don't have an AI governance policy or are still drafting one. Of those that do have such policies, only a third have actually implemented enforcement technologies to ensure compliance and mitigate risks associated with Shadow AI use.
Cybersecurity challenges
CISOs highlight visibility issues in cybersecurity
Indian companies are also struggling with visibility into their overall cybersecurity exposures. A report by cybersecurity firm Infopercept found that 84% of chief information security officers (CISOs) admitted they lacked full visibility into these vulnerabilities. Misconfigurations, unpatched systems, unprotected custom applications, and even human error were some of the major issues contributing to this lack of visibility in Indian firms' cybersecurity defenses.
Risk assessment
Need for unified approach to cybersecurity categorization
Experts have pointed out a disconnect between cybersecurity operations and business impact in Indian firms. Purvang Raval, AVP of product marketing at Infopercept, said that while there may be thousands of vulnerabilities in an organization's environment, only a handful are truly relevant from a business risk perspective. He also stressed the need for organizations to adopt a unified approach to cybersecurity categorization, especially regarding AI risks.