The Thales Data Threat Report 2023 is an annual report on the latest data security threats, trends and emerging topics. It has revealed some concerning findings about ransomware attacks and cloud data breaches in India and globally.

According to the report by global technology company Thales, there has been a significant increase in these attacks, underscoring the need for organizations to implement robust security measures to protect their sensitive data.

The report has revealed a significant increase in ransomware attacks in India as well as in the world. 52% of IT professionals surveyed in India reported an increase in ransomware attacks in past 12 months, higher than global figure of 48%.

 Respondents identified their cloud assets and IoT devices as the biggest targets for cyber-attacks. In India, 53% of respondents reported that their IoT devices were the biggest targets, followed by cloud-based storage (41%) and cloud-delivered applications (SaaS) (40%). Hence it is of utmost importance that increasing the security of the their cloud assets and IoT devices should be high on the agenda of the organizations. 

Human Error: Leading Cause of Cloud Data Breaches
Human error, misconfiguration, and other mistakes are found to be the leading cause of cloud data breaches. In India, 52% of organization who suffered a data breach in the past 12 months cited misconfiguration or human error as the main cause. 

Identity and access management (IAM), according to the Thales report, is the best defence, with 28% of respondents globally identifying it as the most effective tool to mitigate these risks.

Key Takeaways

• Enterprises continue to see a serious threat landscape in India and globally. 
• Cloud based storage is being perceived in India as one of the biggest targets for cyber-attacks by the Thales report
• It is in the essential fitness of things that organizations must maintain better control over their data 
• Organizations need to focus on implementing robust security measures to protect against cyber risks.
• In India, more than half (52%) of IT professionals reported a surge in ransomware attacks in the past 12 months. This is higher than the global average of 48%. 
• 82% of respondents in India who were affected by ransomware attacks experienced data loss
• Less than half (48%) of enterprises surveyed in India have a formal ransomware plan