20 Lakh Cyber Incidents Expose India’s Coding Security Gap

India witnessed a staggering 20 lakh cybersecurity incidents in 2024, with faulty software coding emerging as a key factor behind many of these cases, said Smt. Savita Utreja, Scientist ‘G’ and Group Coordinator (Cybersecurity) at MeitY.

Speaking at a seminar on “Secure Software Development Lifecycle Practices” at GITAM University, Ms. Utreja stressed the need to embed security into software from the design stage itself to counter the growing scale and sophistication of cyber threats.

Experts warned that insecure development practices, combined with rapid advances in AI, are increasing the frequency and impact of cyberattacks. “Cyber threats affect large organisations, small businesses, and individuals alike,” Ms. Utreja noted, urging organisations to adopt Secure Software Development Lifecycle (SSDLC) practices.

IIIT Hyderabad Director Prof. Sandeep Kumar Shukla highlighted the rising threat of supply chain attacks, citing the SolarWinds incident. GITAM Pro Vice-Chancellor Prof. Y. Gouthama Rao cautioned that sectors like healthcare, transport, and defence face severe cyber risks. The seminar was jointly organised by MeitY, C-DAC, and IIT Bhilai.