Malware rate: Surat, Ahmedabad in top 5 cities

AHMEDABAD: Gujarat's top two cities - Surat and Ahmedabad - are among the major cities that rank high for malware (malicious software) attack detections across devices like laptops, desktops, mobiles, printers, servers and fax machines. In Gujarat, 51.99 million malware attack detections were recorded in 2023, making it roughly 1.2 malware attack detections per person in the state with a population of 6.48 crore. The detections do not mean that the devices were successfully compromised. The latest Data Security Council of India (DSCI) report called 'India Malware Landscape: Geographical Analysis' has said that of the over 160 million malware attack detections in Indian cities, Surat alone accounted for 15% of them followed by Bengaluru at 14%. Ahmedabad figured among the top five cities with 11% malware attack detections. An analysis revealed that Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, and Bengaluru have the highest number of detections in absolute terms."Surat and Ahmedabad, which have emerged as new IT/ITeS hubs, have high detections relative to their installation bases. The top 10 cities account for more than 50% of the detections, while the remaining detections are spread across Tier II and III cities and towns in India," says the DSCI report. Ahmedabad accounted for 8% of devices with malware detections (12 million) while Surat accounted for 15% (14 million). The report presents a comprehensive analysis of malware threats based on the data collected by SEQRITE Labs reporting 160 million malware detections in Indian cities based on 8.5 million endpoints, averaging 761 detections every minute. "Additionally, the threat landscape across Indian states and cities registered notable instances such as state-sponsored Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) in action, cryptojacking, ransomware attacks and even the resurgence of old viruses, fake lending apps, and more," states the DSCI report. Vinayak Godse, CEO, DSCI said, "The report delves into serious threats posed by ransomware attacks. Ransomware hit rate is higher compared to other malware categories. The geographical analysis underlines the fact that Tier II/III cities are in the ambit of cyberattacks owing to practices like bring your own device (BYOD) and work from home."