India Becomes Second-Most Targeted Nation in APAC as Cyberattacks Surge in H1 2026: Cyble Report

Cyble Research & Intelligence Labs (CRIL) reveals Manufacturing, IT, and BFSI sectors bear the brunt in APAC; Ransomware and Nation-State APTs drive aggressive regional attack volume.

Cyble, an AI-driven threat intelligence leader, in its Global Threat Landscape Report for H1 2026, reported an escalating threat environment across the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, with India ranking among the top 10 most ransomware-targeted countries globally, recording 77 distinct ransomware attacks in the first six months of 2026.

Key India & APAC Highlights (H1 2026)

• India in Global Crosshairs: India secured the 9th spot globally for ransomware victims (77 attacks), trailing only to Thailand (82 attacks) as the most targeted nations in the APAC region.
• APAC Incident Snapshot: Cyble Research and Intelligence Labs (CRIL) recorded 496 ransomware attacks, 19 data breach incidents, and 20 initial access listings across APAC between January and June 2026.
• Highest State-Sponsored APT Exposure: APAC registered the highest ratio of Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) profiles globally. Out of 123 threat actor profiles tracked in the region, 44% (54 groups) were nation-state APTs—including China-, North Korea-, and Pakistan-nexus actors like SideCopy, SharpPanda, Kimsuky, and UNC3886 targeting government, defense, and enterprise IT infrastructure.
• Top Targeted Industries in APAC:
  • Manufacturing was the hardest hit (49+ attacks.
  • IT & ITES (30 attacks) and BFSI (22 attacks) faced intense exfiltration and supply-chain targeting.
  • Consumer Goods, Professional Services, Healthcare, and Construction rounded out the most exploited verticals.
• Dominant Ransomware Gangs: Three RaaS operators—The Gentlemen (114 victims / 23%), Qilin (64 victims / 13%), and LockBit (38 victims / 7.7%)—accounted for over 43% of all ransomware attacks across APAC.
• Underground Broker Market: Retail and Professional Services made up 50% of all Initial Access Sale listings in APAC.
• Surging Hacktivism: Over 4,500 unique regional domains were impacted by hacktivist campaigns, generating nearly 700 data leak posts across government, education, and tech sectors.

For Further Regional Industry Risk Breakdown Ask for Our Full Report.

“India’s rapid digital transformation and expanding IT supply chain make it an incredibly attractive target for both state-sponsored espionage groups and financially motivated ransomware networks,” said Kaustubh Medhe, VP – Research and Threat Intelligence. “In H1 2026, double extortion has become the default operating procedure. Organizations can no longer rely solely on backup restoration—protecting network edges, securing initial access brokers’ targets, and stopping data exfiltration before it happens are critical to national digital resilience.”

Brief Global Context

While APAC faced severe targeted pressure, Cyble’s H1 2026 global metrics show the sheer scale of the threat landscape:

• Global Ransomware: 3,836 attacks recorded worldwide, led by North America and Europe/UK.
• Global Breaches: 367 data breach incidents observed worldwide, heavily concentrated in the BFSI sector.
• Vulnerability Trends: Out of 146 CVEs analyzed, nearly 90% were rated critical or high severity. Network and edge appliances—including Ivanti, Fortinet, Cisco, SolarWinds, and Palo Alto Networks—remained the primary entry point for zero-day and N-day exploits.

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