NEW DELHI: Growing Internet penetration and rising popularity of online banking have made India a favourite among cybercriminals, who target online financial transactions using malware, security solutions provider Trend Micro said.

According to the firm, India ranks third after Japan and the U.S. in the tally of countries most affected by online banking malware during the April-June quarter of 2014.

Japan topped the list with the highest number of online banking malware infections this quarter due to VAWTRAK. In May alone, it saw 13,000 malware infections.

The US saw about 5,000 malware infections during the month, followed by India at 3,000 attacks.

“India posed for cybercriminal expansion with an average of 2.5 million malware detection in a given month. Also, 33 per cent more malicious apps were downloaded and network traffic from affected computers continued to rise,” TrendLabs Director Myla V Pilao told PTI.

TrendLabs is Trend Micro’s research and development centre.

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