The Zscaler ThreatLabz research team recently discovered that over 200 Google Play Store apps that have been downloaded around eight million times were malicious.
The report claims that Nigeria is among the top 10 nations in the world that these mobile virus attackers target.
India, the United States, Canada, South Africa, the Netherlands, Mexico, Brazil, Singapore, and the Philippines are among the other top targets.
According to the survey, cyber dangers on mobile platforms have increased as mobile devices have taken over as the main tool for online activity, with 96.5% of internet users accessing the web via their phones.
Based on 20 million fraudulent transactions that were prevented, the Zscaler analysis shows that over the previous year, banking malware attacks have increased by 29%, while mobile spyware occurrences have increased by an astounding 111%.
Reasons For The Rise In Attacks
The report explained this dramatic rise by pointing to the increased profitability of cyberattacks and the fact that many cybercriminals can now get beyond multi-factor authentication (MFA).
They frequently take advantage of phishing tactics, including phoney social networking, cryptocurrency wallet, and financial institution login pages, it stated.
According to the survey, fraudsters also commonly employ QR codes as an attack vector. According to reports, the well-known Android banking trojan Anatsa targeted banking apps from more than 650 financial institutions globally by using QR codes.
Attackers have also been found to spread Android remote access trojans using phony Google Meet, Zoom, and Skype websites, where users unintentionally download malicious APK files.
“Even apps from official stores like the Google Play Store have been compromised. The platform got more than 200 fraudulent programs that were downloaded around eight million times in total. Google confirmed that these apps were removed after being identified,” according to the study.
Best Mobile Malware Apps
According to the research, Joker was the most common malware family among the apps, making up about 38% of the programs that were found.
One kind of Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) fraud is called “joker,” which subtly enrolls consumers in premium services without their awareness and results in unanticipated fees.
Additional dangers include “Facestealers,” malware intended to steal Facebook passwords, which makes up 14% of dangerous apps, and adware, which accounted for 35% of threats seen.
Cybercriminals frequently pose dangerous programs as helpful tools like file managers, translators, QR code scanners, and PDF readers, according to ThreatLabz.
These fake programs serve as loaders for more dangerous malware, such as Anatsa, also referred to as TeaBot. In order to trick users into installing second-stage payloads that further corrupt their devices, many of these apps are meticulously designed to look authentic.
“Trojans continue to dominate the Android threat landscape, accounting for 43% of all malicious payloads. Banking malware, in particular, relies heavily on trojans, and Zscaler has blocked 3.6 million threats related to these types of attacks,” it noted.
Reduced Android Malware Activity
The researchers did observe a recent decrease in Android malware activity, though. By May 2024, there were just one-third as many fraudulent transactions banned as there had been in June 2023.
Based on the examination of over 20 million threat-related mobile transactions, Zscaler managed to record an average of 1.7 million Android malware blockages per month during the previous 12 months.
