India shares first digital threat report for finance sector

Coin Geek

07-05-2025

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India has introduced its first-ever comprehensive Digital Threat Report, a strategic move to enhance cybersecurity across the Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI) sector. This publication underscores the importance of establishing a unified and cohesive cybersecurity framework to shield the country's financial infrastructure from growing digital threats.
The report provides an in-depth analysis of the sector's current security posture, revealing systemic vulnerabilities and highlighting the nature of evolving cyber risks that threaten operational stability. By identifying these gaps, the report offers financial institutions a clear roadmap for improving their cybersecurity strategies and fortifying their digital defenses.
'Cybersecurity is no longer an optional safeguard but the foundation of financial stability in the digital age. As India's BFSI sector rapidly expands, securing digital transactions is not just a regulatory necessity but an economic imperative,' M. Nagaraju, Secretary, Department of Financial Services of Ministry of Finance, said in a statement.
'The Digital Threat Report 2024 for BFSI as a collaborative effort between national cybersecurity agencies and industry leaders highlights the urgency of an integrated approach – one that unifies technology, regulatory compliance, and proactive threat intelligence. It serves as a strategic blueprint, equipping financial institutions with the intelligence needed to anticipate vulnerabilities, strengthen their defenses, and build cyber resilience in an era of increasingly sophisticated threats,' Nagaraju added.
Designed as a proactive resource, the report encourages organizations within the BFSI ecosystem to stay vigilant and responsive in the face of rapidly advancing cyber threats. It emphasizes the importance of anticipating future risks and adapting security protocols accordingly to maintain resilience over the long term.
The report aims to equip India's financial entities with the knowledge and tools required to outpace cyber adversaries. It supports the development of a more integrated, robust, and future-ready cybersecurity infrastructure—one that is capable of protecting the integrity and stability of India's financial system in an increasingly digital world.
The report was launched by M. Nagaraju; S Krishnan, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity); along with Sanjay Bahl, Director General, Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In); and Dharshan Shanthamurthy, Founder and CEO of SISA, a global forensics-driven cybersecurity solutions company for the digital payments industry.
SISA applies the power of forensic intelligence and advanced technology to offer security to over 2,000 customers in more than 40 countries.
According to the Ministry of Electronics & IT, the BFSI sector is at the heart of global digital transformation, with digital payments projected to generate $3.1 trillion by 2028, accounting for 35% of total banking revenues. However, the rapid shift to digital transactions has also expanded the attack surface for cybercriminals. The 2024 Digital Threat Report distinguishes itself by going beyond a basic overview of existing threats and potential vulnerabilities. It delivers an in-depth exploration of the sophisticated tactics employed by cyber adversaries, particularly those that target the foundational operations of financial systems.
What sets this report apart is its dual focus: it not only exposes critical security weaknesses across the BFSI sector but also presents a strategic outlook on the evolving threat landscape. By combining real-time threat intelligence with predictive insights, the report empowers financial institutions to proactively strengthen their cyber defenses and stay ahead of current and future challenges. 'The BFSI industry stands at a unique intersection of opportunity and risk. As non-cash transactions continue to grow at an extraordinary pace, fueled by the shift to e-commerce and the digitization of B2B payments, the sector is transforming into an increasingly complex ecosystem,' the report said.
'While these advancements open new doors for innovation and customer engagement, they also present attractive targets for cyber adversaries seeking to exploit vulnerabilities for gain. The journey to secure this ecosystem is far from over. Threats are constantly evolving, and as technology advances, so do the tactics and motives of those seeking to disrupt it. The digital payments sector, with its immense value and increasing reliance on interconnected systems, requires constant vigilance and adaptability to protect against emerging risks.'
AI transforming cybersecurity landscape
The report highlights that artificial intelligence (AI) is already transforming the cybersecurity landscape as the financial sector prepares for future challenges. While AI continues to fuel innovation, it is also being used by malicious actors to launch highly targeted, stealthy, and scalable cyberattacks. Looking ahead to 2025 and beyond, these AI-powered threats are expected to outpace traditional defense strategies, compelling organizations to reimagine how they detect, prevent, and respond to evolving cyber risks.
In 2024, the BFSI industry faced an unprecedented rise in the complexity, frequency, and variety of cyberattacks, signaling a dramatic shift in the threat landscape. The global average cost of a data breach has soared to a record-breaking $4.88 million—a 10% jump from 2023—while in India, the average breach cost has reached $2.18 million, the report stated. These figures underscore the escalating financial risks and the critical need for robust cybersecurity strategies.
In the first half of 2024, India's financial sector experienced a staggering 175% increase in phishing attacks compared to the same period in 2023, reflecting the intensifying threat activity within an already unstable cybersecurity environment. Cloud-based vulnerabilities have become a key attack vector, revealing weaknesses in intricate digital infrastructures and significantly magnifying financial losses and operational disruptions. At the same time, supply chain attacks have grown more sophisticated, leveraging the interconnected nature of systems to infiltrate even the most secure networks through persistent, adaptive strategies.
As cybercriminals adopt AI to enhance their tactics, identity-based attacks have become increasingly advanced and widespread. AI's capacity to manipulate identity data and evade security measures through convincing social engineering is reshaping the threat landscape.
One alarming development is the rise of deepfake technology, which is fueling large-scale impersonation scams—from executive-level Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks to coordinated misinformation campaigns. In India, where incidents of deepfake-driven identity fraud are rising faster than the global average, organizations are now confronting serious and unprecedented threats to digital trust and integrity, the report stated.
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