Hackers target India’s biggest brands: How major firms like Tata and Reliance are strengthening cyber defences

Mumbai: Earlier this year, a leading finance company found itself in the middle of a major cybersecurity breach due to a password compromise, leading to leakage of sensitive financial information. However, the case was handled internally and hushed up, according to a person with knowledge of the matter, who did not wish to be identified.

In another recent incident, a large engineering company fell prey to a phishing attack transferring funds to a fake account for supply of raw material. "After six months, the valid recipient reached out to the company as they had not received any payment," said Akshay Garkel, cyber partner at Grant Thornton. "By then, the payment made to the fraudsters was in seven digits. Everyone scampered and the company ordered an independent investigation, and stringent policies were put in place."

A manifold jump in cyberattacks in the past year, and the rise of generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI), leading to greater threat perception amid escalating social engineering and phishing attacks, is prompting companies to undertake regular review of risk factors and cyber preparedness, said industry insiders.


It is among the topmost issues on the minds of boards and chief executives, they said, especially of large companies of the likes of Reliance Industries, Adani group, Tata group, Vedanta, Maruti Suzuki India and RPG, which have legacy businesses and are also entering several new areas.

"For hackers, these large business houses are like cash cows. They are not only sitting with a lot of data but also there is a huge brand reputation at stake. The bigger the asset base, the higher is the risk perception," said Garkel.

Over the past six months, Indian organisations have seen 3,244 cyberattacks per week on average, nearly double the global average of 1,657, said Sundar Balasubramanian, managing director for India and SAARC at Check Point Software Technologies.

"Most boards I am on have educated themselves about the risks associated with cybercrimes and break-ins and are much better informed. The audit committees are more focused on the risk area," said Arun Duggal, chairman, ICRA.

A few months ago, when the massive Microsoft IT outage happened, affecting systems globally, grounding flights, affecting payment systems and emergency services, boards again urged their management to review how secure their systems and data were, said Duggal, a board member and independent director at several large companies.

"Whenever the boards hear of any major data or cybersecurity breach, they want to evaluate their own company's cyber preparedness and evaluate how equipped they are to prevent and manage such situations," he said.

Balasubramanian said, "The recent surge in cyberattacks highlights the escalating vulnerability of Indian businesses, with high-profile incidents such as customer data theft from India's largest health insurer and ransomware attacks on a tech provider which further impacted 300 small Indian banks."

Large business houses are more at risk because they have been running on a mix of legacy and state-of-the-art technology while building new business models.

"Newer attack surface with rapid advancement in the use of next gen technology (moving from legacy tech to new tech) is making it imperative for the large conglomerates to ramp up their cyber preparedness," said Garkel.

"Cybersecurity is on the top of the minds of every board member today with a much greater probability of things going wrong with higher propensity of data, higher penetration of technology in daily life and even hackers getting smarter," said Pankaj Arora, managing director, Russell Reynolds Associates.

The chief technology officer of a large automobile company said on the condition of anonymity, "Boards these days are regularly updated by the chief information security officer on all cybersecurity incidents and initiatives."

Globally, concerns over software repository vulnerabilities and data breaches are mounting. "While many large businesses are reasonably prepared for cyberattacks, constantly evolving tactics of cybercriminals make full protection challenging. Organisations handling sensitive client and customer data must continuously bolster their cybersecurity defences to stay ahead of these threats," said Balasubramanian.