Ministry Of Defense, Airtel, Jio Attacked By Chinese Hackers; 200% Rise In Hacking Reported

It seems that the lethal fight between the Chinese and Indian military forces at the Galwan Valley has triggered a 200 percent increase in cyberattacks from China towards India, as per the reports. 

How Did This Happen?

To weaken India’s cyber base, the hacker groups in China are aggressively targeting many Indian organizations such as large businesses,  ministries and media organisations for attacks on their IT infrastructure.

On top of that, the conversation in the dark web expressing interest to hack Indian assets has increased substantially, As per Cyfirma, a cyber threat intelligence firm.

Further, the attacks had been seeing a rise over 200 percent from the start of this month.

It doesn’t stop there as India tops the list of countries that are on the radar of Chinese hackers. 

What Does Cyfirma Say?

As per the reports from Singapore-based Cyfirma Research, a cyber threat intelligence firm, companies like Airtel, Reliance Jio, BSNL, Micromax, Cipla, Sun Pharma, MRF, and L&T are being targeted by Chinese hackers.

Their aim is to play with their reputation and also exfiltration of sensitive information, which could include trade secrets.

The founder and CEO, Cyfirma, Kumar Ritesh said, “Since the border conflict at Ladakh, we are witnessing the Chinese hackers’ communities becoming even more active. Typically, the US, Japan, Canada and Australia are the prime targets for Chinese hackers. But in the last six days, India has taken a lead whereby hackers are identifying assets, and going after them,”.

Further he informed that the nature of Chinese attacks is also getting sophisticated. 

Earlier, the hackers were defacing websites of these institutions earlier, now they are trying to exfiltrate data from servers that pose national security risks. 

Mr Ritesh said, “Imagine the impact of sensitive data leaks from SBI, Air India or Nuclear Power Corporation which are now the target entities for Chinese hackers,”.

Who Is The Main Target?

The companies belonging to many crucial sectors like SBI, ICICI Bank, Air India, LIC, Nuclear Power Corporation, Indian Oil, Reliance Jio, Amul, Karbonn Mobiles, HAL, Hero MotoCorp, Dabur, SAIL, Wipro, and others are being targeted, as per the Cyfirma report.

It is noteworthy here that the number of attacks till last week, was far lower and concentrated around just a few companies. 

But now in the last six days, till June 23, the amount of attacks has increased manifold targeting a wide range of companies, prominently public sector units (PSUs). 

Apart from them, the hackers also targeted central government ministries such as the ministry of foreign affairs, ministry of defence, and ministry of information and broadcasting with a motive of naming and shaming them.

According to experts,  the intensity of attack will remain high in the coming days.