India Tops Cyberattack Targets in Q1 2025 as Russia Faces Surging API Threats

In the first quarter of 2025, India became the primary target for cyberattacks globally, while Russia maintained its position among the top 10 most attacked countries, according to a new report by cybersecurity firm StormWall¹. The analysis highlights a 135% year-over-year increase in DDoS attacks targeting Russian APIs, with retail, telecom, and financial sectors bearing the brunt of these incidents².

Key Findings for Security Teams

StormWall’s research reveals that API security flaws are now the dominant threat vector in Russia, accounting for 78% quarter-over-quarter growth in attacks. Retail networks saw a 162% spike in incidents, while telecom and finance sectors experienced 128% and 114% increases respectively². Ramil Khantimirov, CEO of StormWall, stated:

“API attacks are now the top threat to Russia’s economy.”

The attacks frequently follow a pattern of reconnaissance, vulnerability exploitation, and extortion attempts. Threat actors are targeting unsecured endpoints in web applications, particularly those handling payment processing and customer data. Many Russian organizations still rely on legacy API gateways without proper rate limiting or request validation.

Technical Breakdown of Attack Patterns

Analysis of attack traffic shows three primary vectors:

HTTP flood attacks (42% of incidents)
SQL injection through API parameters (33%)
Credential stuffing against authentication endpoints (25%)

Attack durations averaged 47 minutes per incident, with peak bandwidth reaching 412 Gbps in the most severe cases. The majority originated from cloud-based botnets leveraging compromised IoT devices and vulnerable cloud instances.

Mitigation Strategies

For organizations handling API traffic, StormWall recommends:

Layer	Protection
Network	Implement strict rate limiting and geo-fencing
Application	Validate all input parameters and enforce strict schema validation
Monitoring	Deploy anomaly detection for abnormal request patterns

Regular security audits of API endpoints should include checks for common misconfigurations like exposed debugging endpoints or deprecated authentication methods. Web application firewalls need specific rulesets tuned for API traffic patterns rather than traditional web requests.

Broader Cybersecurity Landscape

While Russia contends with API threats, India’s surge to the top of global attack targets reflects growing activity from both criminal and state-sponsored groups. The shift coincides with India’s rapid digital transformation across government services and financial systems.

Other notable findings from Q1 2025 include a 4.1% decline in Russia’s LNG production due to U.S. sanctions³, while surimi exports to Japan tripled year-over-year⁴. These economic factors may influence future attack trends as threat actors adjust to shifting trade patterns.

Conclusion

The Q1 2025 threat landscape demonstrates how API vulnerabilities have become critical infrastructure risks, particularly for economies with extensive digital payment systems. Organizations must prioritize API security hardening as part of core infrastructure protection strategies. The concentration of attacks on specific sectors suggests threat actors are conducting targeted reconnaissance before launching campaigns.

Future monitoring should focus on emerging patterns in Southeast Asian markets, where Russia’s growing plastics exports to Vietnam⁶ may create new attack surfaces for supply chain compromises.