Russia accounted for most cyber attacks on India (255,589), followed by the US (103,458), China (42,544), the Netherlands (19,169) and 15,330 attacks from Germany. To track these cyber attacks, F-Secure has deployed 41 honeypots across the globe that "serve as sitting ducks for cybercriminals" and enables collection of the latest malware samples/shell scripts and new hacking techniques.
"Our public honeypots are a valuable source of threat intelligence and an integral part of the infrastructure that powers our various security offerings, including our Rapid Detection and Response Service," Mr Tasiemski said.
Honeypots are set up explicitly to grab the attention of attackers. They are basically decoy servers that emulate the real IT environment of a business enterprise. To the attackers, these look like actual servers of real companies with weaknesses and vulnerabilities. They are used to gain critical insights on attack types, popular targets, sources, volume and TTP (Tactics, Techniques and Procedures).
Interestingly, the top 5 countries that cyberattackers from India targeted were Austria, the Netherlands, the UK, Japan and Ukraine, with the number cumulatively tallying up to 35,563 in the said period, as per the report.
F-Secure gave the break-up: Austria (12,540), the Netherlands (9,267), the UK (6,347), Japan (4,701) and 3,708 attacks targeted Ukraine's businesses.
"The relatively higher number of inbound attacks on Indian honeypots reflects how the fast-digitising country is becoming more lucrative for global cybercriminals," Leszek Tasiemski, Vice President of cyber security products R&D at F-Secure, said in a statement on Sunday.
"We are gathering and analysing all the pertinent data to ensure that our customers stay protected given the dynamically evolving threat landscape," he added.
