More than 37 lakh RDP attacks were recorded in the first half of 2026, while 83% of surveyed Indian organisations are willing to invest in contractors’ cybersecurity.
Backdoor detections on the systems of Indian small and medium businesses (SMBs) rose 52.1% year-on-year in the first half of 2026, highlighting persistent risks from attackers seeking long-term access to corporate networks, according to Kaspersky Security Network (KSN) data.
Kaspersky detected 452,351 backdoors on Indian SMB systems between January and June 2026, compared with 297,412 in the same period last year and 408,244 in the second half of 2025. Backdoors allow attackers to bypass normal authentication and maintain hidden remote access, potentially enabling data theft, lateral movement and further attacks.
Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) remained a significant attack vector. Kaspersky recorded 3,738,051 RDP attacks against Indian SMBs during H1 2026, equivalent to approximately 20,650 attempts daily. Although this was 47.2% below the peak recorded in H2 2025, it remained a substantial exposure for businesses relying on remote access.
“Indian enterprises are among the most willing in the world to invest in their contractors’ security, which means an SMB’s security posture is fast becoming part of how it wins and keeps clients.” — Purshottam Bhatia, Head of Consumer Business for South Asia, Kaspersky
Exploit detections declined 35.1% year-on-year to 463,997. However, software exploits remain among the threats capable of causing serious operational and financial damage.
The business impact extends beyond technical disruption. A Kaspersky survey of IT and security professionals across 18 countries found that 86% of SMBs had experienced at least one cyber incident in the preceding year. Financial loss was the leading consequence of the most harmful incident, reported by 22% of respondents. Meanwhile, 16% reported irrecoverable data loss and 13% irreversible damage to corporate assets.
Supply-chain security is emerging as another concern. A separate Kaspersky study found that 83% of surveyed organisations in India were prepared to invest in their contractors’ security, compared with 69% globally considering such investment.
Purshottam Bhatia, Head of Consumer Business for South Asia at Kaspersky, said the rise in backdoors showed that SMBs were increasingly being treated as persistent footholds for attackers. He urged businesses to strengthen remote-access controls and adopt security measures that can be managed without dedicated security teams.
Kaspersky recommends disabling unnecessary RDP access, using VPNs and multi-factor authentication, patching vulnerabilities promptly, enforcing strict access controls and maintaining regular backups. It also advises SMBs to document security policies and prepare for client security assessments as cybersecurity becomes increasingly important to supplier relationships.