Mumbai, November 12, 2026: Indian small and medium businesses (SMBs) faced a 77.7% year-on-year increase in local cyberthreats during the first half of 2026, with Kaspersky solutions blocking 1,49,53,750 local threats between January and June, according to data from Kaspersky Security Network (KSN). The figure marks a sharp rise from 84,15,301 threats detected in H1 2025 and 1,12,87,280 in H2 2025, averaging around 82,600 detections daily.
Web-based threats also climbed significantly, with 32,12,339 incidents recorded in H1 2026—a 39.7% increase over the same period last year and a 17.9% rise from H2 2025. These web threats include malicious links, fake download pages, and infected websites accessed during routine business activities.
Threats from removable media and AI lures
Local threats, defined as malicious files found on computers or removable media such as flash drives and external hard drives, often originate from pirated software or complex installers. Kaspersky noted that the blending of personal and professional device use among SMB owners heightens the risk, as infected drives or software can compromise entire businesses.
Attacks leveraging the popularity of artificial intelligence services are also on the rise. From January to April 2026, Kaspersky detected over 33,300 global attacks on SMBs involving malicious or unwanted software disguised as AI tools—almost five times more than the previous year. Fake versions of ChatGPT (42%), Claude (24%), and DeepSeek (20%) were the most common lures, while counterfeit Telegram, WhatsApp, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams applications accounted for nearly 4,15,000 additional attacks.
Decline in some data-theft tools, but risks persist
While password stealers and spyware detections declined by 11.1% and 38.5% year-on-year respectively, with 98,678 and 1,34,199 incidents, Kaspersky still recorded over 1,200 credential- and data-stealing attempts on Indian SMB devices each day.
Kaspersky’s financial threats report for 2025 found that over one million online banking accounts at the world’s 100 largest banks were compromised by infostealers, with India having the highest median number of compromised accounts per bank. Infostealer detections on PCs rose 59% globally over the year. Additionally, 74% of payment cards compromised by infostealers and published on the dark web in 2025 were still valid as of March 2026. Fake online-store pages made up 48.5% of financial phishing in 2025, and mobile banking malware attacks increased 1.5 times.
Kaspersky’s recommendations and product offering
Purshottam Bhatia, Head of Consumer Business for South Asia at Kaspersky, said the sharp increase in local threats reflects attackers exploiting the overlap between personal and business device use among small business owners. “Small business owners don’t need to become IT experts. They need protection that works the moment it is installed and stays out of the way, so they can focus on their customers,” Bhatia said.
Kaspersky Small Office Security (KSOS) is designed for small teams without dedicated IT support, offering antivirus, VPN, password management, and encryption for Windows, macOS, and Android. Features include real-time link protection, Safe Money checkout protection, a built-in password manager, private VPN, and encrypted backups. KSOS can be deployed in minutes with a single invite link, and a 30-day free trial is available.
Cybersecurity guidance for Indian SMBs
Kaspersky recommends that small business owners scan all USB drives before use, avoid unknown media, download software only from official sources, use unique passwords stored in a password manager, verify web addresses before entering payment details, and report financial fraud to the 1930 helpline or the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal.
The statistics are based on anonymised detection data voluntarily shared by Kaspersky users in India, covering the SMB segment for H1 2025, H2 2025, and H1 2026.
Disclaimer: This article is based on a press release provided by the concerned organisation and has been edited for style and clarity with the assistance of AI tools. BusinessFortnight does not verify, endorse, or take responsibility for the claims, figures, or statements made in the original release.
