India emerges as the top global target for mobile malware attacks
Zscaler published its Zscaler ThreatLabz 2024 Mobile, IoT, and OT Threat Report, highlighting alarming trends in the cybersecurity landscape. Covering data from June 2023 to May 2024, the report reveals that India has become the top global target for mobile malware attacks, accounting for 28% of the total, surpassing the United States (27.3%) and Canada (15.9%). This significant jump from its 3rd place ranking last year underscores the critical need for Indian enterprises to adopt robust security measures, especially amid the rapid digital transformation and increasing cyber threats.
The findings further reveal that India dominates the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, representing 66.5% of mobile malware targets. This surge is accompanied by a sharp increase in sophisticated phishing campaigns targeting users of leading private Indian banks. ThreatLabz researchers have detected a rise in phishing campaigns targeting mobile users of three of the five largest private banks in India. These sophisticated attacks use fake banking sites designed to closely resemble legitimate ones, tricking mobile users into divulging sensitive bank information.
On the flip side, India has shown some success in mitigating outbound threats, ranking 7th in the APAC region as a malware origin point. This is an improvement from its 5th-place ranking last year, with Singapore, China and South Korea leading in this category.
Legacy systems and unprotected IoT/ OT environments are becoming prime targets for cybercriminals,” said Suvabrata Sinha, CISO-in-Residence, India at Zscaler. “We see a significant rise in hacking campaigns targeted at these environments. Indian enterprises must adopt a robust Zero Trust security framework to secure their core operational environments. This will not only protect critical systems but also ensure business continuity in an increasingly connected world.”
Globally, the report sheds light on the scale of cyberattacks, identifying more than 200 malicious apps in the Google Play Store with over 8 million collective installs. Furthermore, the Zscaler cloud observed a 45% year-over-year increase in IoT malware transactions, highlighting the relentless proliferation of botnets across IoT devices.
“Cybercriminals are increasingly targeting legacy exposed assets which often act as a beachhead to IoT & OT environments, resulting in data breaches and ransomware attacks,” said Deepen Desai, Chief Security Officer, Zscaler. “Mobile malware and AI-driven vishing attacks add to that list making it critical for CISOs and CIOs to prioritise an AI-powered zero trust solution to shut down attack vectors of all kinds safeguarding against these attacks.”
