India Ranks Fifth in Cyber Attack Targets: Microsoft Report:
In 2022, India held the unenviable position of being the country with the second-highest number of cyberattacks. However, in 2023, it has slipped to the fifth position. In contrast, Europe, responsible for 14 percent of these attacks, has surged to claim the second spot. The United States, witnessing a steady increase, now leads the chart in various cyberattack categories, as revealed in the Microsoft Digital Defence Report 2023.
The United States faces the greatest share of Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks, accounting for 54 percent of all such assaults. DDoS attacks inundate targeted devices, services, and networks with fraudulent internet traffic, rendering them inaccessible or unusable for legitimate users.
According to the report, India, which reported approximately 25 percent of attacks the previous year, now registers fewer than five percent. It maintains its third position in terms of threat actors’ focus in the Asia-Pacific region, with Korea and Taiwan following closely.
In Europe, Ukraine tops the list due to Russian state actors’ activities linked to invasion. Meanwhile, Israel is the most heavily targeted country in the Middle East and North Africa, primarily due to Iran’s extensive interests in the region. North Korean and Chinese state actors have elevated South Korea and Taiwan to the first and second most targeted nations in the Asia-Pacific region.
The report also reveals North Korea’s particular interest in espionage against institutions and individuals studying North Korea itself, as well as targeting national defense industries in various countries. India accounts for seven percent of these attacks, with Russia taking the lead, closely followed by the USA and Israel. India is also among the ten Asia-Pacific nations that have refocused their attention on regulating critical infrastructure.
In a surprising development, North Korea is providing material support to Russia’s war in Ukraine in exchange for food. Its cyber actors are simultaneously targeting Russian nuclear energy, the defense industry, and government entities for intelligence collection.
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