India second most targeted country by ransomware in APAC and Japan region: Report

India was the second most targeted country by ransomware in the Asia-Pacific and Japan region in 2022, as per Palo Alto Networks & Unit 42 Ransomware and Extortion Report that was released on Tuesday. India has moved up a rank from its third position in 2021.

According to the report, in India, Maharashtra was the most-targeted state with 36 per cent of ransomware attacks, followed by New Delhi.

"Ransomware and extortion groups are forcing their victims into a pressure cooker, with the ultimate goal of increasing their chances of getting paid," said Wendi Whitmore, senior vice president and head of Unit 42 at Palo Alto Networks.

The report also highlighted the most targeted industries which are manufacturing, construction, and professional & legal services. The most active ransomware groups include Lockbit 2.0, BianLian, and Stormous.

The report has compiled insights from about 1,000 cases over the past 18 months and observed that ransomware demands continue to be a major issue for organisations.

Unit 42 has observed that payments are as high as $7 million, with a median demand of $650,000 and a median payment of $350,000. However, the report also highlights that effective negotiation can drive down actual payments.

The report also observed that harassment is now 20 times more often than in 2021. The attackers use phone calls and emails to target specific individuals in the C-suite, customers, and other individuals, increasing cases of corporate ransoms.

The report also said that 30 organisations on the Forbes Global 2000 list were publicly impacted by extortion attempts in 2022.

The report also revealed that attackers layer their extortion techniques to apply greater pressure on organisations and force ransom out of them.

It further explained that some of these tactics include encryption, data theft, distributed denial of service (DDoS), and harassment.

Data theft, often associated with dark web leak sites, remained the most common of the extortion tactics, with 70 percent of groups using it by late 2022, a 30 per cent point increase from the year prior, the report said.

India follows Australia in the list to be on the second position and is then succeeded by Japan and Taiwan.