India sees most ransomware infections in Q2 of 2015

India suffered from the highest number of ransomware infections -- malicious programmes designed to take control of a user's computer or smartphone for pay-offs -- during the second quarter of 2015, claims a report.
"India has risen to number one from the eighth position that posted the highest number of 'Ransomware Infections' in the second quarter of 2015. In the said quarter, 16,000 ransomware files were detected compared with 13,000 in the first quarter," said the report by Trend Micro, a cyber security firm.
Ransomware infections refer to cyber crime activity where malicious software programmes are planted by criminals in computers and smartphones to take control of the device. These criminals then demand ransom from a user for providing access to the device or files.

According to the report, other kinds of cyber crime activities, which include spamming, phishing attacks and macro malware infections, are on the rise too.
"While India was not one of the top 10 countries sending spam in the first quarter of 2015, it has emerged straight at the sixth position in the second quarter," the report said.
The report is based on statistics collected by Trend Micro within its network.

Trend Micro said it blocked more than 745 million user visits to malicious sites this quarter, with the figure dropping from April to May before slightly ticking up this June.

Also, macro malware infections went up in India in the second quarter of this year.
"From the fifth position in the first quarter of 2015, India is now the fourth country with the highest number of users who clicked malicious URLs in the second quarter of 2015," the report said.
"From the 10th position in the first quarter of 2015, India is now at ninth in the list of countries that posted the highest number of Macro Malware Infections," the report said.