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India is the second most targeted nation in terms of cyberattacks: Cloud SEK

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Cyber intelligence firm Cloud SEK said in a report that India emerged as the second most targeted nation in terms of cyber-attacks worldwide, as 95 Indian entities were targeted for data theft in 2024. According to the company’s Threat Landscape Report 2024 based on data monitoring in the dark web, the US was the most targeted country, with 140 attacks, due to its economic dominance and digital infrastructure followed by India where data of 95 entities were attacked in 2024. “India: Rapid digitization exposed 95 entities, making it the second most attacked nation,” the report said. Israel was on the third spot where 57 entities faced attacks due to geopolitical tensions. “The threat actors impacted various sectors in India, with the finance and banking sectors experiencing the highest number of victims at 20. This was followed by the government sector with 13 victims, telecommunications with 12, and the healthcare and pharma and education sectors with 10 and 9 victims, respectively,” the report said. The major breaches as per the report comprised 850 million records of Indian citizen data leaked from Hi-Tek Group, Star Health, and Allied Insurance customers data, 2TB of data from Telecommunications Consultants India. According to the report, there were 108 ransomware incidents known in the country. “Lock bit was the most active ransomware group in India, being responsible for over 20 incidents in the country, followed by more than 15 targets by Kallsen. Ransom hub ransomware was responsible for over 12 incidents in the country,” the report said.

84-year-old cyber fraud victim gets Rs 53 lakh refund in Hyderabad

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Hyderabad police have helped in refunding Rs 53 lakh to an octogenarian, who lost Rs 2.88 crore to cyber fraudsters. The victim, who was cheated by cyber fraudsters on the pretext of wrongdoing, received the amount on the court’s order. City Cybercrime Police had taken up the investigation after a complaint from an 84-year-old man from Hyderabad. According to Hyderabad Police Commissioner CV Anand, the fraudsters contacted the complainant through a WhatsApp video call, posing as CBI officials. They claimed that he was involved in Rs 68 crore financial fraud and threatened to send him to jail. Frightened over this, the victim on the instructions of fraudsters transferred Rs 2.88 crore to the bank accounts given by them. The Cyber Crime Police registered a case under Sections 66(C), 66(D) of the IT Act, and 308(2), 318(4), 319(2), 336(3), 338, 340(2) of BNS, and investigated the case. The police officials sent notices to the bank officials, followed up with them to freeze the fraudulent amount, and guided the complainant to file a petition in court for the refund of the amount held in the fraudulent accounts to the complainant’s bank account. The Police Commissioner said due to the sincere efforts of staff, the court issued orders to the banks for a refund of the amount. The court directed Axis Bank, Surat to refund Rs 53 lakh and State Bank of India Kerala to refund Rs 50 lakh. On regular follow-up with the bank officials, Rs 53 lakh was transferred today to the complainant’s account, the Police Commissioner said. He cautioned people not to be afraid of threatening calls that they will be arrested. Police will not make such calls and people have to keep in mind that it is only fraudsters who make such calls. Never send money to such fraudsters, block such calls, and lodge an online complaint immediately on the helpline number 1930 or through the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal cybercrime.gov.in, he urged people. People have been requested to follow Hyderabad Cyber Crime Police Station’s social media handles regularly to get time-to-time awareness about such cyber frauds. There is a possibility to get a refund of at least part of the lost amount and a ‘put on hold’ amount, if the fraud is reported immediately.