One in two Indian companies faced cyber-attacks at least once a day amid the pandemic, with 16 per cent attacked each hour, a new report showed on Tuesday. The report by global data protection tech company Acronis said that 58 per cent of IT managers and 26 per cent of employees in India have reported that they are frequently targeted by phishing attacks.

As many as 58 per cent of employees in India suffer from weak IT infrastructure and are unable to add new devices, which is twice the global average. "Threat actors are increasingly expanding their targets, while organisations are held back by the growing complexity of IT infrastructure," said Candid Wuest, Acronis VP for Cyber Protection Research.

"Only a small number of companies have taken the time to modernise their IT stack with integrated data protection and cybersecurity. The threat landscape will continue to grow, and automation is the only path to greater security, lower costs, improved efficiency and reduced risks," Wuest added.

India has the lowest adoption rates of Multifactor Authentication (MFA) technology among IT managers globally, with 50 per cent not implementing it or only using it on some accounts.

"With employees working from home, Wi-Fi connectivity is reported a top issue for 67 per cent of remote employees in India, and this is causing remote workers to cut corners on data protection procedures," the report noted.

Malware attacks are also increasing and in 2021, India has reported 46 per cent such attacks so far, far above the global average of 36.5 per cent.

"While video conferencing attacks have decreased globally since 2020, India reports an increase in 46 per cent of its companies. In India, 26 per cent of respondents confirmed being targeted by phishing attacks monthly," the findings showed.