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Mobile malware evolution in 2025

Starting from the third quarter of 2025, we have updated our statistical methodology based on the Kaspersky Security Network. These changes affect all sections of the report except for the installation package statistics, which remain unchanged.

To illustrate trends between reporting periods, we have recalculated the previous year’s data; consequently, these figures may differ significantly from previously published numbers. All subsequent reports will be generated using this new methodology, ensuring accurate data comparisons with the findings presented in this article.

Kaspersky Security Network (KSN) is a global network for analyzing anonymized threat intelligence, voluntarily shared by Kaspersky users. The statistics in this report are based on KSN data unless explicitly stated otherwise.

The year in figures

According to Kaspersky Security Network, in 2025:

  • Over 14 million attacks involving malware, adware or unwanted mobile software were blocked.
  • Adware remained the most prevalent mobile threat, accounting for 62% of all detections.
  • Over 815 thousand malicious installation packages were detected, including 255 thousand mobile banking Trojans.

The year’s highlights

In 2025, cybercriminals launched an average of approximately 1.17 million attacks per month against mobile devices using malicious, advertising, or unwanted software. In total, Kaspersky solutions blocked 14,059,465 attacks throughout the year.

Attacks on Kaspersky mobile users in 2025 (download)

Beyond the malware mentioned in previous quarterly reports, 2025 saw the discovery of several other notable Trojans. Among these, in Q4 we uncovered the Keenadu preinstalled backdoor. This malware is integrated into device firmware during the manufacturing stage. The malicious code is injected into libandroid_runtime.so – a core library for the Android Java runtime environment – allowing a copy of the backdoor to enter the address space of every app running on the device. Depending on the specific app, the malware can then perform actions such as inflating ad views, displaying banners on behalf of other apps, or hijacking search queries. The functionality of Keenadu is virtually unlimited, as its malicious modules are downloaded dynamically and can be updated remotely.

Cybersecurity researchers also identified the Kimwolf IoT botnet, which specifically targets Android TV boxes. Infected devices are capable of launching DDoS attacks, operating as reverse proxies, and executing malicious commands via a reverse shell. Subsequent analysis revealed that Kimwolf’s reverse proxy functionality was being leveraged by proxy providers to use compromised home devices as residential proxies.

Another notable discovery in 2025 was the LunaSpy Trojan.

LunaSpy Trojan, distributed under the guise of an antivirus app

LunaSpy Trojan, distributed under the guise of an antivirus app

Disguised as antivirus software, this spyware exfiltrates browser passwords, messaging app credentials, SMS messages, and call logs. Furthermore, it is capable of recording audio via the device’s microphone and capturing video through the camera. This threat primarily targeted users in Russia.

Mobile threat statistics

815,735 new unique installation packages were observed in 2025, showing a decrease compared to the previous year. While the decline in 2024 was less pronounced, this past year saw the figure drop by nearly one-third.

Detected Android-specific malware and unwanted software installation packages in 2022–2025 (download)

The overall decrease in detected packages is primarily due to a reduction in apps categorized as not-a-virus. Conversely, the number of Trojans has increased significantly, a trend clearly reflected in the distribution data below.

Detected packages by type

Distribution* of detected mobile software by type, 2024–2025 (download)

* The data for the previous year may differ from previously published data due to some verdicts being retrospectively revised.

A significant increase in Trojan-Banker and Trojan-Spy apps was accompanied by a decline in AdWare and RiskTool files. The most prevalent banking Trojans were Mamont (accounting for 49.8% of apps) and Creduz (22.5%). Leading the persistent adware category were MobiDash (39%), Adlo (27%), and HiddenAd (20%).

Share* of users attacked by each type of malware or unwanted software out of all users of Kaspersky mobile solutions attacked in 2024–2025 (download)

* The total may exceed 100% if the same users encountered multiple attack types.

Trojan-Banker malware saw a significant surge in 2025, not only in terms of unique file counts but also in the total number of attacks. Nevertheless, this category ranked fourth overall, trailing far behind the Trojan file category, which was dominated by various modifications of Triada and Fakemoney.

TOP 20 types of mobile malware

Note that the malware rankings below exclude riskware and potentially unwanted apps, such as RiskTool and adware.

Verdict % 2024* % 2025* Difference in p.p. Change in ranking
Trojan.AndroidOS.Triada.fe 0.04 9.84 +9.80
Trojan.AndroidOS.Triada.gn 2.94 8.14 +5.21 +6
Trojan.AndroidOS.Fakemoney.v 7.46 7.97 +0.51 +1
DangerousObject.Multi.Generic 7.73 5.83 –1.91 –2
Trojan.AndroidOS.Triada.ii 0.00 5.25 +5.25
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Mamont.da 0.10 4.12 +4.02
Trojan.AndroidOS.Triada.ga 10.56 3.75 –6.81 –6
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Mamont.db 0.01 3.53 +3.51
Backdoor.AndroidOS.Triada.z 0.00 2.79 +2.79
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Coper.c 0.81 2.54 +1.72 +35
Trojan-Clicker.AndroidOS.Agent.bh 0.34 2.48 +2.14 +74
Trojan-Dropper.Linux.Agent.gen 1.82 2.37 +0.55 +4
Trojan.AndroidOS.Boogr.gsh 5.41 2.06 –3.35 –8
DangerousObject.AndroidOS.GenericML 2.42 1.97 –0.45 –3
Trojan.AndroidOS.Triada.gs 3.69 1.93 –1.76 –9
Trojan-Downloader.AndroidOS.Agent.no 0.00 1.87 +1.87
Trojan.AndroidOS.Triada.hf 0.00 1.75 +1.75
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Mamont.bc 1.13 1.65 +0.51 +8
Trojan.AndroidOS.Generic. 2.13 1.47 –0.66 –6
Trojan.AndroidOS.Triada.hy 0.00 1.44 +1.44

* Unique users who encountered this malware as a percentage of all attacked users of Kaspersky mobile solutions.

The list is largely dominated by the Triada family, which is distributed via malicious modifications of popular messaging apps. Another infection vector involves tricking victims into installing an official messaging app within a “customized virtual environment” that supposedly offers enhanced configuration options. Fakemoney scam applications, which promise fraudulent investment opportunities or fake payouts, continue to target users frequently, ranking third in our statistics. Meanwhile, the Mamont banking Trojan variants occupy the 6th, 8th, and 18th positions by number of attacks. The Triada backdoor preinstalled in the firmware of certain devices reached the 9th spot.

Region-specific malware

This section describes malware families whose attack campaigns are concentrated within specific countries.

Verdict Country* %**
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Coper.a Türkiye 95.74
Trojan-Dropper.AndroidOS.Hqwar.bj Türkiye 94.96
Trojan.AndroidOS.Thamera.bb India 94.71
Trojan-Proxy.AndroidOS.Agent.q Germany 93.70
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Coper.c Türkiye 93.42
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Rewardsteal.lv India 92.44
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Rewardsteal.jp India 92.31
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Rewardsteal.ib India 91.91
Trojan-Dropper.AndroidOS.Rewardsteal.h India 91.45
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Rewardsteal.nk India 90.98
Trojan-Dropper.AndroidOS.Agent.sm Türkiye 90.34
Trojan-Dropper.AndroidOS.Rewardsteal.ac India 89.38
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Rewardsteal.oa India 89.18
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Rewardsteal.ma India 88.58
Trojan-Spy.AndroidOS.SmForw.ko India 88.48
Trojan-Dropper.AndroidOS.Pylcasa.c Brazil 88.25
Trojan-Dropper.AndroidOS.Hqwar.bf Türkiye 88.15
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Agent.pp India 87.85

* Country where the malware was most active.
** Unique users who encountered the malware in the indicated country as a percentage of all users of Kaspersky mobile solutions who were attacked by the same malware.

Türkiye saw the highest concentration of attacks from Coper banking Trojans and their associated Hqwar droppers. In India, Rewardsteal Trojans continued to proliferate, exfiltrating victims’ payment data under the guise of monetary giveaways. Additionally, India saw a resurgence of the Thamera Trojan, which we previously observed frequently attacking users in 2023. This malware hijacks the victim’s device to illicitly register social media accounts.

The Trojan-Proxy.AndroidOS.Agent.q campaign, concentrated in Germany, utilized a compromised third-party application designed for tracking discounts at a major German retail chain. Attackers monetized these infections through unauthorized use of the victims’ devices as residential proxies.

In Brazil, 2025 saw a concentration of Pylcasa Trojan attacks. This malware is primarily used to redirect users to phishing pages or illicit online casino sites.

Mobile banking Trojans

The number of new banking Trojan installation packages surged to 255,090, representing a several-fold increase over previous years.

Mobile banking Trojan installation packages detected by Kaspersky in 2022–2025 (download)

Notably, the total number of attacks involving bankers grew by 1.5 times, maintaining the same growth rate seen in the previous year. Given the sharp spike in the number of unique malicious packages, we can conclude that these attacks yield significant profit for cybercriminals. This is further evidenced by the fact that threat actors continue to diversify their delivery channels and accelerate the production of new variants in an effort to evade detection by security solutions.

TOP 10 mobile bankers

Verdict % 2024* % 2025* Difference in p.p. Change in ranking
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Mamont.da 0.86 15.65 +14.79 +28
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Mamont.db 0.12 13.41 +13.29
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Coper.c 7.19 9.65 +2.46 +2
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Mamont.bc 10.03 6.26 –3.77 –3
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Mamont.ev 0.00 4.10 +4.10
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Coper.a 9.04 4.00 –5.04 –4
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Mamont.ek 0.00 3.73 +3.73
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Mamont.cb 0.64 3.04 +2.40 +26
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Faketoken.pac 2.17 2.95 +0.77 +5
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Mamont.hi 0.00 2.75 +2.75

* Unique users who encountered this malware as a percentage of all users of Kaspersky mobile solutions who encountered banking threats.

In 2025, we observed a massive surge in activity from Mamont banking Trojans. They accounted for approximately half of all new apps in their category and also were utilized in half of all banking Trojan attacks.

Conclusion

The year 2025 saw a continuing trend toward a decline in total unique unwanted software installation packages. However, we noted a significant year-over-year increase in specific threats – most notably mobile banking Trojans and spyware – even though adware remained the most frequently detected threat overall.

Among the mobile threats detected, we have seen an increased prevalence of preinstalled backdoors, such as Triada and Keenadu. Consistent with last year’s findings, certain mobile malware families continue to proliferate via official app stores. Finally, we have observed a growing interest among threat actors in leveraging compromised devices as proxies.

IT threat evolution in Q3 2025. Mobile statistics

IT threat evolution in Q3 2025. Mobile statistics
IT threat evolution in Q3 2025. Non-mobile statistics

The quarter at a glance

In the third quarter of 2025, we updated the methodology for calculating statistical indicators based on the Kaspersky Security Network. These changes affected all sections of the report except for the statistics on installation packages, which remained unchanged.

To illustrate the differences between the reporting periods, we have also recalculated data for the previous quarters. Consequently, these figures may significantly differ from the previously published ones. However, subsequent reports will employ this new methodology, enabling precise comparisons with the data presented in this post.

The Kaspersky Security Network (KSN) is a global network for analyzing anonymized threat information, voluntarily shared by users of Kaspersky solutions. The statistics in this report are based on KSN data unless explicitly stated otherwise.

The quarter in numbers

According to Kaspersky Security Network, in Q3 2025:

  • 47 million attacks utilizing malware, adware, or unwanted mobile software were prevented.
  • Trojans were the most widespread threat among mobile malware, encountered by 15.78% of all attacked users of Kaspersky solutions.
  • More than 197,000 malicious installation packages were discovered, including:
    • 52,723 associated with mobile banking Trojans.
    • 1564 packages identified as mobile ransomware Trojans.

Quarterly highlights

The number of malware, adware, or unwanted software attacks on mobile devices, calculated according to the updated rules, totaled 3.47 million in the third quarter. This is slightly less than the 3.51 million attacks recorded in the previous reporting period.

Attacks on users of Kaspersky mobile solutions, Q2 2024 — Q3 2025 (download)

At the start of the quarter, a user complained to us about ads appearing in every browser on their smartphone. We conducted an investigation, discovering a new version of the BADBOX backdoor, preloaded on the device. This backdoor is a multi-level loader embedded in a malicious native library, librescache.so, which was loaded by the system framework. As a result, a copy of the Trojan infiltrated every process running on the device.

Another interesting finding was Trojan-Downloader.AndroidOS.Agent.no, which was embedded in mods for messaging and other apps. It downloaded Trojan-Clicker.AndroidOS.Agent.bl onto the device. The clicker received a URL from its server where an ad was being displayed, opened it in an invisible WebView window, and used machine learning algorithms to find and click the close button. In this way, fraudsters exploited the user’s device to artificially inflate ad views.

Mobile threat statistics

In the third quarter, Kaspersky security solutions detected 197,738 samples of malicious and unwanted software for Android, which is 55,000 more than in the previous reporting period.

Detected malicious and potentially unwanted installation packages, Q3 2024 — Q3 2025 (download)

The detected installation packages were distributed by type as follows:

Detected mobile apps by type, Q2* — Q3 2025 (download)

* Changes in the statistical calculation methodology do not affect this metric. However, data for the previous quarter may differ slightly from previously published figures due to a retrospective review of certain verdicts.

The share of banking Trojans decreased somewhat, but this was due less to a reduction in their numbers and more to an increase in other malicious and unwanted packages. Nevertheless, banking Trojans, still dominated by Mamont packages, continue to hold the top spot. The rise in Trojan droppers is also linked to them: these droppers are primarily designed to deliver banking Trojans.

Share* of users attacked by the given type of malicious or potentially unwanted app out of all targeted users of Kaspersky mobile products, Q2 — Q3 2025 (download)

* The total may exceed 100% if the same users experienced multiple attack types.

Adware leads the pack in terms of the number of users attacked, with a significant margin. The most widespread types of adware are HiddenAd (56.3%) and MobiDash (27.4%). RiskTool-type unwanted apps occupy the second spot. Their growth is primarily due to the proliferation of the Revpn module, which monetizes user internet access by turning their device into a VPN exit point. The most popular Trojans predictably remain Triada (55.8%) and Fakemoney (24.6%). The percentage of users who encountered these did not undergo significant changes.

TOP 20 most frequently detected types of mobile malware

Note that the malware rankings below exclude riskware and potentially unwanted software, such as RiskTool or adware.

Verdict %* Q2 2025 %* Q3 2025 Difference in p.p. Change in ranking
Trojan.AndroidOS.Triada.ii 0.00 13.78 +13.78
Trojan.AndroidOS.Triada.fe 12.54 10.32 –2.22 –1
Trojan.AndroidOS.Triada.gn 9.49 8.56 –0.93 –1
Trojan.AndroidOS.Fakemoney.v 8.88 6.30 –2.59 –1
Backdoor.AndroidOS.Triada.z 3.75 4.53 +0.77 +1
DangerousObject.Multi.Generic. 4.39 4.52 +0.13 –1
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Coper.c 3.20 2.86 –0.35 +1
Trojan.AndroidOS.Triada.if 0.00 2.82 +2.82
Trojan-Dropper.Linux.Agent.gen 3.07 2.64 –0.43 +1
Trojan-Dropper.AndroidOS.Hqwar.cq 0.37 2.52 +2.15 +60
Trojan.AndroidOS.Triada.hf 2.26 2.41 +0.14 +2
Trojan.AndroidOS.Triada.ig 0.00 2.19 +2.19
Backdoor.AndroidOS.Triada.ab 0.00 2.00 +2.00
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Mamont.da 5.22 1.82 –3.40 –10
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Mamont.hi 0.00 1.80 +1.80
Trojan.AndroidOS.Triada.ga 3.01 1.71 –1.29 –5
Trojan.AndroidOS.Boogr.gsh 1.60 1.68 +0.08 0
Trojan-Downloader.AndroidOS.Agent.nq 0.00 1.63 +1.63
Trojan.AndroidOS.Triada.hy 3.29 1.62 –1.67 –12
Trojan-Clicker.AndroidOS.Agent.bh 1.32 1.56 +0.24 0

* Unique users who encountered this malware as a percentage of all attacked users of Kaspersky mobile solutions.

The top positions in the list of the most widespread malware are once again occupied by modified messaging apps Triada.ii, Triada.fe, Triada.gn, and others. The pre-installed backdoor Triada.z ranked fifth, immediately following Fakemoney – fake apps that collect users’ personal data under the guise of providing payments or financial services. The dropper that landed in ninth place, Agent.gen, is an obfuscated ELF file linked to the banking Trojan Coper.c, which sits immediately after DangerousObject.Multi.Generic.

Region-specific malware

In this section, we describe malware that primarily targets users in specific countries.

Verdict Country* %**
Trojan-Dropper.AndroidOS.Hqwar.bj Turkey 97.22
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Coper.c Turkey 96.35
Trojan-Dropper.AndroidOS.Agent.sm Turkey 95.10
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Coper.a Turkey 95.06
Trojan-Dropper.AndroidOS.Agent.uq India 92.20
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Rewardsteal.qh India 91.56
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Agent.wb India 85.89
Trojan-Dropper.AndroidOS.Rewardsteal.ab India 84.14
Trojan-Dropper.AndroidOS.Banker.bd India 82.84
Backdoor.AndroidOS.Teledoor.a Iran 81.40
Trojan-Dropper.AndroidOS.Hqwar.gy Turkey 80.37
Trojan-Dropper.AndroidOS.Banker.ac India 78.55
Trojan-Ransom.AndroidOS.Rkor.ii Germany 76.90
Trojan-Dropper.AndroidOS.Banker.bg India 75.12
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.UdangaSteal.b Indonesia 75.00
Trojan-Dropper.AndroidOS.Banker.bc India 74.73
Backdoor.AndroidOS.Teledoor.c Iran 70.33

* The country where the malware was most active.
** Unique users who encountered this Trojan modification in the indicated country as a percentage of all Kaspersky mobile security solution users attacked by the same modification.

Banking Trojans, primarily Coper, continue to operate actively in Turkey. Indian users also attract threat actors distributing this type of software. Specifically, the banker Rewardsteal is active in the country. Teledoor backdoors, embedded in a fake Telegram client, have been deployed in Iran.
Notable is the surge in Rkor ransomware Trojan attacks in Germany. The activity was significantly lower in previous quarters. It appears the fraudsters have found a new channel for delivering malicious apps to users.

Mobile banking Trojans

In the third quarter of 2025, 52,723 installation packages for mobile banking Trojans were detected, 10,000 more than in the second quarter.

Installation packages for mobile banking Trojans detected by Kaspersky, Q3 2024 — Q3 2025 (download)

The share of the Mamont Trojan among all bankers slightly increased again, reaching 61.85%. However, in terms of the share of attacked users, Coper moved into first place, with the same modification being used in most of its attacks. Variants of Mamont ranked second and lower, as different samples were used in different attacks. Nevertheless, the total number of users attacked by the Mamont family is greater than that of users attacked by Coper.

TOP 10 mobile bankers

Verdict %* Q2 2025 %* Q3 2025 Difference in p.p. Change in ranking
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Coper.c 13.42 13.48 +0.07 +1
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Mamont.da 21.86 8.57 –13.28 –1
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Mamont.hi 0.00 8.48 +8.48
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Mamont.gy 0.00 6.90 +6.90
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Mamont.hl 0.00 4.97 +4.97
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Agent.ws 0.00 4.02 +4.02
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Mamont.gg 0.40 3.41 +3.01 +35
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Mamont.cb 3.03 3.31 +0.29 +5
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Creduz.z 0.17 3.30 +3.13 +58
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Mamont.fz 0.07 3.02 +2.95 +86

* Unique users who encountered this malware as a percentage of all Kaspersky mobile security solution users who encountered banking threats.

Mobile ransomware Trojans

Due to the increased activity of mobile ransomware Trojans in Germany, which we mentioned in the Region-specific malware section, we have decided to also present statistics on this type of threat. In the third quarter, the number of ransomware Trojan installation packages more than doubled, reaching 1564.

Verdict %* Q2 2025 %* Q3 2025 Difference in p.p. Change in ranking
Trojan-Ransom.AndroidOS.Rkor.ii 7.23 24.42 +17.19 +10
Trojan-Ransom.AndroidOS.Rkor.pac 0.27 16.72 +16.45 +68
Trojan-Ransom.AndroidOS.Congur.aa 30.89 16.46 –14.44 –1
Trojan-Ransom.AndroidOS.Svpeng.ac 30.98 16.39 –14.59 –3
Trojan-Ransom.AndroidOS.Rkor.it 0.00 10.09 +10.09
Trojan-Ransom.AndroidOS.Congur.cw 15.71 9.69 –6.03 –3
Trojan-Ransom.AndroidOS.Congur.ap 15.36 9.16 –6.20 –3
Trojan-Ransom.AndroidOS.Small.cj 14.91 8.49 –6.42 –3
Trojan-Ransom.AndroidOS.Svpeng.snt 13.04 8.10 –4.94 –2
Trojan-Ransom.AndroidOS.Svpeng.ah 13.13 7.63 –5.49 –4

* Unique users who encountered the malware as a percentage of all Kaspersky mobile security solution users attacked by ransomware Trojans.

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