The report prepared by Bengaluru-headquartered telecom solutions provider Subex identified over 3,500 modular malware samples in the country, registering a whopping 37 per cent increase.
Smart cities, financial services and transportation sectors lead the rankings in terms of cyber attacks, said the "State of Internet of Things (IoT) Security Report" for the third quarter (July-September period).
"As the digital footprint of India increases through capital intensive projects, hackers are targeting data and large scale disruption like never before," said said Vinod Kumar, Managing Director and CEO, Subex.
"The increase in cyber attacks against the country and the strong geopolitical correlation indicate high levels of interest in targeting our critical infrastructure. Hackers are working to improve their ability to monetize cyber attacks," he warned.
Malware of varying degrees of sophistication are being reported from a variety of deployments, including new projects surrounding renewable energy.
Most malware detected (36 per cent) could be traced to sources on the Dark Web while as much as 14 per cent of malware couldn't be traced to a known source pointing to the arrival of new actors and malware shops on the scene," the findings showed.
The detection of malware connected with critical infrastructure projects has also registered an increase.
"This implies that hackers are targeting large scale disruption and are working to increase the cost associated with managing such projects as also negatively impact future investments in them," the report added.
Independent hackers are increasingly feeling the need to monetize cyber attacks as the unit cost of malware has risen in the last quarter. Further, it is becoming increasingly difficult to source high-grade malware from multiple sources due to various factors, the report added.
( With inputs from IANS )