India At 3rd Spot Where Most IoT Malware Infections Originated This Year: Microsoft

The top three countries where most of the malware infections for the Internet of Things (IoT) devices originated in 2022 include the US, and China, followed by India at the third spot.

The top three countries where most of the malware infections for the Internet of Things (IoT) devices originated in 2022 include the US, and China, followed by India at the third spot, a new report has said. According to tech giant Microsoft Cyber Signals Report, while analysing 2022 threat data across countries, its researchers found the largest share of IoT malware, which is 38 per cent of the total, originating from China.

Infected servers in the US put the country in second place, with 18 per cent of observed malware distribution, the Microsoft Cyber Signals Report noted. According to data shared in the report, India accounts for 10 per cent of IoT malware infections.

"Microsoft researchers found that India is amongst the top 3 countries originating IoT malware infection in 2022. Therefore, the cyberthreat landscape is real and security is the need of the hour," the report said.

The researchers observed IoT malware threats across traditional IT equipment, operational technology (OT) controllers and IoT devices such as routers and cameras.

"The spike in attackers' presence in these environments and networks is fuelled by the convergence and interconnectivity many organisations have adopted over the past few years," the report said.

Malware being circulated in the country is not new and last month, a group of malware apps that are capable of phishing attacks were discovered on the Google Play Store with installations of as many as one million downloads, according to security researchers at American Internet security company Malwarebytes Labs. These malicious Android apps have been developed by a common developer named Mobile apps Group.

Older versions of these malware apps were previously detected as different variants of Android/Trojan.HiddenAds. Shockingly, the developer Mobile apps Group is still active on the official Google Play Store dispensing its "HiddenAds" malware. The developer was allowed to publish apps after submitting cleaned versions.