Telangana records nearly 23 percent of India's malware attacks in 2024
Hyderabad: With over 6.25 million malware incidents, Telangana has emerged as one of the most targeted states in India last year, said Telangana Cyber Threat Report 2025 on Monday.
The report put together by Data Security Council of India (DSCI), in collaboration with Seqrite Labs, India’s largest malware analysis center, stated that 23 percent of all malware detected in the country in 2024 were reported in the Telugu state.
It is an alarming situation that malware, ransomware, and hacktivist activities targeting key sectors such as healthcare, education, and government institutions are on the rise, it added.
As identity theft is a serious offence, the report revealed that nearly 30,000 such incidents were registered in the state, which includes 11,125 cases of unauthorized transactions, and 5,369 incidents of KYC updation fraud. Impersonation frauds accounted for a concerning 18,647 cases, which included courier frauds, police impersonation and digital arrest scams.
With several growing economic hubs in the state, people also fell prey to nearly 26,000 business and investment scams. Advertisement fraud (17,669 cases) and loan fraud (12,589 cases) comprised other prominent forms of fraud detected in the state, the report stated.
There has also been an alarming rise in ransomware attacks, with an average of 47 attacks per day and a total of 17,505 incidents last year, the report added.
Emphasising the severity of the threat landscape, the report mentioned several high-profile incidents such as the ransomware attack on Narayana Group hospitals and educational services which disrupted critical patient care and administrative operations by encrypting electronic medical records (EMR) and billing systems.
Similarly, Sivaraj Medical Colleges suffered a devastating breach that compromised sensitive student records, financial transactions, and faculty payroll systems. Both attacks exploited vulnerabilities such as phishing emails and weak access controls to gain entry into critical systems.
Explaining how the hackers are using platforms like Telegram, the report said Hacktivist Groups have targeted government portals such as data.telangana.gov.in and educational institutions like Jawaharlal Nehru Architecture and Fine Arts University.
Sensitive citizen data, login credentials, and governmental documents were leaked online, while website defacements tarnished the reputations of public institutions.
For instance, the Deputy Chief Minister’s website was breached, exposing internal documents that raised serious concerns about data privacy and security, the report revealed.
