India saw the highest number of ransomware attacks in 2021: Report

Ransomware attacks have increased significantly since the pandemic disrupted the pace of life last year. In the past, reports have detailed the impact ransomware attacks had on various industries last year. Now, a new report talks about the ransomware attacks witnessed this year.

According to a report by Check Point Research (CPR), an average of over 1,000 organisations have been impacted by ransomware every week since April. This follows an increase of 21% in the first trimester of the year and of 7% since April. The report says that this increase has resulted in a staggering 102% overall increase in the number of organisations affected by ransomware compared to the beginning of 2020.

As far as the impact in terms of the region is concerned, the report says that organisations in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region are witnessing the highest volume of ransomware attacks. On average, organisations in APAC are attacked 51 times per week. CPR says that this is a 14% increase compared to the beginning of this year. The report also said that on average, a North American organisation experiences 29 weekly attacks, while organisations in Europe and Latin America witnessed 14 attacks per week each. On the other hand, African companies each have four weekly attacks per organisation.

Furthermore, the report says that India remains the country most impacted by these attacks. As per the report, India has seen the most number of attack attempts per organisation, with an average of 213 weekly attacks since the beginning of the year. It was followed by Argentina with 104 weekly attacks, Chile with 103 weekly attacks, France with 61 weekly attacks and, Taiwan with 50 weekly attacks.

As far as the top impacted industries are concerned, the report says that globally the healthcare industry is witnessing the highest number of attacks with an average of 109 attacks attempts per organisation every week, followed by the utilities sector with 59 attacks and insurance and legal sector with 34 attacks. It was followed by software and manufacturing on fourth and fifth spots.

As far as the region-wise distribution is concerned, insurance/legal, manufacturing and healthcare remain the top affected sectors in APAC region, while in North America healthcare, software and insurance/legal remain the top affected sectors. Similarly, in Europe utilities, software and healthcare remain the top affected sectors, and in Latin America communications, manufacturing and retail/wholesale remain the top affected sectors. Lastly, in Africa, banking/finance, manufacturing and retail/wholesale remain the top affected sectors.