Backdoors detected on the systems of Indian small and medium businesses (SMBs) grew 52.1% year-on-year in the first half of 2026, according to Kaspersky Security Network (KSN) data. Kaspersky detected 4,52,351 backdoors on SMB systems in India between January and June 2026, compared with 2,97,412 in H1 2025 and 4,08,244 in H2 2025, a rise in each of the last three half-years.
Kaspersky describes a backdoor as a way of bypassing normal authentication to gain hidden remote access to a computer, and notes that backdoor Trojans are among the most widespread and dangerous types of Trojans. Once in place, a backdoor lets attackers return at will to steal data, move deeper into the network or launch further attacks.
Remote access remains a prime entry point. Kaspersky recorded 37,38,051 attacks on Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) against Indian SMBs in H1 2026, or around 20,650 attempts a day. The figure is 47.2% below the peak of 70,81,856 in H2 2025 and 26.3% below H1 2025 (50,72,360). As Kaspersky has explained, an attacker who obtains a valid RDP login and password effectively owns that system and can plant malware or exfiltrate data.
Exploit detections declined, falling 35.1% year-on-year to 4,63,997 in H1 2026. Even so, software exploits rank among the most damaging threats SMBs face: they were named alongside phishing, mass malware and ransomware as the most harmful incidents in Kaspersky's latest global SMB survey.
What a serious incident costs an SMB
The same survey of IT and IT security professionals across 18 countries, including India, found that 86% of SMBs had faced at least one cyber incident in the past year. Financial loss was the leading consequence of the most harmful incident, cited by 22%, while nearly one in five reported theft of customer data or disruption to client-facing services such as websites and online stores. The damage is often permanent: 16% of companies suffered irrecoverable data loss and 13% irreversible damage to corporate assets.
Attackers went where the keys are kept. Half of the most harmful attacks targeted IT teams and 46% hit IT security departments, with accounting and finance the third most targeted area at 24%. SMBs were also more exposed through customer-service channels (21%) than mid-market (15%) and large (17%) companies.
Suppliers are now part of the client's security perimeter
For Indian SMBs that supply larger businesses, security is becoming a condition of doing business. A separate Kaspersky study of enterprises found that 69% of organisations are considering investing in their contractors' security, and that readiness is highest in India at 83%. A quarter of businesses globally have already begun sharing security costs with contractors, after supply chain attacks hit nearly one in three companies over the past year.
“A backdoor is how an attacker stays inside a business long after the first break-in, and a 52% rise tells us Indian SMBs are increasingly being treated as long-term footholds rather than one-off targets. RDP attacks have eased from last year's peak, but more than 20,000 attempts a day shows remote access is still one of the first doors attackers try. What makes this a boardroom issue is the supply chain. 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. SMBs need protection that closes these doors by default and can be managed without a dedicated security team,” said Purshottam Bhatia, Head of Consumer Business for South Asia at Kaspersky.
Kaspersky Small Office Security: business-grade protection, managed from one place
Kaspersky Small Office Security (KSOS) gives small businesses the protection trusted by larger organisations, without needing an in-house IT team. For business owners and office managers, it offers:
File server protection alongside PCs, Macs and mobile devices; a 5-licence pack covers 5 computers, 5 mobile devices and 1 file server.
Ransomware protection and vulnerability scans that help find outdated software before attackers do.
KSOS Portal, a single cloud dashboard to add or remove devices, push updates and review alerts.
KSOS Premium, which adds expert installation support, priority remote IT support and security awareness training for employees.
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