India’s current elections have become a prime target for malicious cyber activity on the part of foreign threat actors and independent hacktivist groups. With the results expected to be counted on June 4, the spike in cyber-attacks is a stark warning for other countries such as the US, the UK and the European Union (EU), which are also holding national elections later this year.
Cybersecurity company Resecurity reports that the early stages of cyber-attacks have been observed since the launch of an #OpIndia campaign last year. Escalating geopolitical tensions across the globe are now heightening the threat to India at this crucial time, with the number of attacks increasing by nearly 300% following the launch of #OpIsrael, which coincided with heightened online protests in the context of the ongoing Israel-Gaza crisis.
Resecurity has named the top 15 threat actors currently targeting India’s national elections. These include Anon Black Flag | Indonesia, Anonymous Bangladesh, Morocco Black Cyber Army, Islamic Cyber Team, Bangladesh Dark Net, and the Sylhet Gang. All 16 groups have targeted multiple law enforcement, government, healthcare, financial, educational, and private sector organizations in India, taking advantage of geopolitical narratives before the current elections.
Threat actors seek to sow conflict between Indians and Muslims
“The majority of these groups also aim to create a social conflict between Indian and Muslim populations, which is critical to prevent in light of a complicated geopolitical situation in the world. In one such campaign, adversaries attempted to combine fake narratives about the country’s leadership with abusive nationalist rhetoric,” says Resecurity.
With a population exceeding 1.4 billion people and a gross domestic product (GDP) of over US$3.4 trillion, India has become a prime target for foreign threat actors and nation-state groups. In addition to cyber espionage, threat actors are trying to sow uncertainty about the integrity of elections via operations that aim to disrupt and manipulate public opinion globally. As these incidents are complicated to assess from an investigative perspective, they are frequently imperceptible to the general public. Foreign adversaries are widely observed to be increasingly using cyber tools to target democratic processes around the globe.
According to Canada’s Communications Security Establishment: “Disinformation has become ubiquitous in national elections, and adversaries are now using generative artificial intelligence (AI) to create and spread fake content.”
