Cybercrimes Could Cost India Rs. 20,000 Crore Due to Brand Abuse and Fake Domains in 2025: CloudSEK

India could potentially suffer financial losses reaching roughly Rs. 20,000 crore due to cybercrimes in 2025, as per a recent report by a cybersecurity firm. The report predicted that brand abuse, phishing scams, and fake domains would be the leading methods to conduct cybercrimes in the ongoing year. Despite the rise of technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), the report claims attackers are likely to use sophisticated social engineering tactics to carry out fraudulent activities. It is said that brand name abuse will account for nearly Rs. 9,000 crore of the total losses.

Brand Abuse, Fake Domains Could Lead to Major Financial Losses in India in 2025

Cybersecurity firm CloudSEK published a white paper on Friday that highlighted that India could suffer an economic impact accounting for Rs. 20,000 crore in 2025. As per the report, brand name abuse could constitute Rs. 9,000 worth of cybercrimes. The firm described brand abuse as “unauthorised use of trusted brand identities for fraudulent purposes,” and said it has emerged as a major avenue for cyber criminals to exploit victims.

CloudSEK claimed that apart from brand impersonation, fraudulent mobile apps and fake website domains could also be exploited by attackers to trick people. Making a sector-wise analysis, the report claimed that brands from the financial sector could bear up to 41 percent or Rs. 8,200 crore of the total losses in 2025. It is said to be followed by the retail and e-commerce sectors with a cumulative 29 percent of financial losses. Government services will account for another 17 percent or Rs. 3,400 crore of losses.

Notably, the cybersecurity firm's report was based on data from 200 organisations, which includes more than 5,000 domain takedowns observed by CloudSEK and 16,000 incidents of brand-related cyber threats. The report also references official data from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (14C) which noted that the country suffered losses accounting roughly Rs. 11,333 crore in the first nine months of 2024. The incidents are predicted to increase significantly this year.

The cybersecurity firm added that businesses will be significantly affected because of these cybercrimes, as they incur reputational damages due to cyber criminals using their names to carry out frauds. The report claims that companies can incur Rs. 6,000 crore in costs to remediation, legal fees, customer compensation, and security infrastructure improvements.

However, individuals will be hit with the brunt of these losses. The report claimed that their financial losses will reach near Rs. 14,000 crore in 2025. These attacks will be carried out using tactics such as phishing scams, fake job postings, and investment frauds.