Normal view

IT threat evolution in Q1 2026. Mobile statistics

18 May 2026 at 14:00

IT threat evolution in Q1 2026. Mobile statistics
IT threat evolution in Q1 2026. Non-mobile statistics

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 Q1 2026:

  • More than 2.67 million attacks utilizing malware, adware, or unwanted mobile software were prevented.
  • The Trojan-Banker category was the prevalent mobile malware threat with a 52.96% share of total detected applications.
  • More than 306,000 malicious installation packages were discovered, including:
    • 162,275 packages related to mobile banking Trojans;
    • 439 packages related to mobile ransomware Trojans.

Quarterly highlights

The number of malware, adware, or unwanted software attacks on mobile devices decreased to 2,676,328 in Q1, down from 3,239,244 in the previous quarter.

Attacks on users of Kaspersky mobile solutions, Q3 2024 — Q1 2026 (download)

The overall drop in attack volume stems primarily from a reduction in adware and RiskTool detections. Nonetheless, this trend does not equate to a lower risk for mobile users. As shown later in this report, the number of unique users targeted by these threats remained relatively stable.

In Q1, Synthient researchers identified a link between the notorious Kimwolf botnet and the IPIDEA proxy network. This network was later taken down in cooperation with GTIG.

In early 2026, we discovered several apps on Google Play and the App Store that contained a new version of the SparkCat crypto stealer.

The Trojan code, meticulously concealed, was embedded into the infected Android apps. The obfuscated malicious Rust library was decrypted using a Dalvik-like virtual machine custom-built by the attackers. The iOS version of the malware also underwent several changes; specifically, the attackers began leveraging Apple’s proprietary Vision framework for optical character recognition (OCR).

Mobile threat statistics

The number of Android malware samples saw a slight increase compared to Q4 2025, reaching a total of 306,070.

Detected malicious and potentially unwanted installation packages, Q1 2025 — Q1 2026 (download)

The detected installation packages were distributed by type as follows:

Detected mobile apps by type, Q4 2025* — Q1 2026 (download)

* Data for the previous quarter may differ slightly from previously published figures due to certain verdicts being retrospectively revised.

Threat actors once again ramped up the production of new banking Trojans; as a result, this category overtook all others in volume, accounting for more than half of all installation packages.

Share* of users attacked by the given type of malicious or potentially unwanted app out of all targeted users of Kaspersky mobile products, Q4 2025 — Q1 2026 (download)

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

Following the surge in banking Trojan installation packages, the number of associated attacks also rose, causing Trojan-Banker apps to climb one spot in terms of their share of targeted users. Mamont variants emerged as the most prevalent banking Trojans, accounting for 73.5% of detections, with the rest of the users encountering Faketoken, Rewardsteal, Creduz, and other families.

Yet banking Trojans were still outpaced by adware and RiskTool-type unwanted apps when measured by the total number of affected users. Despite a decrease in their share of installation packages, these two app types retained their positions as the top two threats by attack volume. The most common adware detections involved HiddenAd (44.9%) and MobiDash (38.1%), while most frequently seen RiskTool apps were Revpn (67%) and SpyLoan (20.5%).

TOP 20 most frequently detected types of mobile malware

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

Verdict %* Q4 2025 %* Q1 2026 Difference in p.p. Change in ranking
Backdoor.AndroidOS.Triada.ag 2.62 7.09 +4.48 +10
DangerousObject.Multi.Generic. 6.75 5.84 -0.92 -1
DangerousObject.AndroidOS.GenericML. 3.52 5.51 +1.99 +6
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Mamont.jo 0.00 5.28 +5.28
Trojan.AndroidOS.Fakemoney.v 5.40 3.44 -1.96 -1
Trojan-Downloader.AndroidOS.Keenadu.l 0.00 3.35 +3.35
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Mamont.jx 0.00 3.09 +3.09
Backdoor.AndroidOS.Triada.z 4.87 3.08 -1.79 -2
Trojan.AndroidOS.Triada.fe 5.01 2.98 -2.02 -4
Backdoor.AndroidOS.Keenadu.a 2.07 2.73 +0.66 +6
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Mamont.jg 0.34 2.37 +2.03
Trojan.AndroidOS.Triada.hf 2.15 2.23 +0.07 +3
Trojan.AndroidOS.Boogr.gsh 2.35 2.15 -0.20 0
Trojan.AndroidOS.Triada.ii 5.68 2.07 -3.60 -11
Backdoor.AndroidOS.Triada.ae 1.91 1.76 -0.16 +3
Backdoor.AndroidOS.Triada.ab 1.79 1.72 -0.08 +3
Trojan.AndroidOS.Triada.gn 2.38 1.58 -0.80 -5
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Mamont.gg 1.56 1.50 -0.06 +2
Trojan.AndroidOS.Triada.ga 1.48 1.50 +0.01 +4
Backdoor.AndroidOS.Triada.ad 0.53 1.40 +0.87 +44

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

The pre-installed Triada.ag backdoor rose to the top spot; it is similar to the older Triada.z version we documented previously. Because the same variant was pre-installed across a wide range of devices, the total number of affected users is aggregated. Consequently, Triada outpaced even Mamont, as users encountered a variety of Mamont variants, causing the share of that banking Trojan to spread across multiple rows. Other pre-installed Triada variants (Triada.z, Triada.ae, Triada.ab, and Triada.ad) also made the rankings. Furthermore, we observed increasing activity from the Keenadu.a backdoor, while diverse variants of the embedded Triada Trojan remained in the rankings.

Mobile banking Trojans

Q1 2026 saw a characteristic rise in mobile banking Trojan activity, with the number of packages totaling 162,275, a 50% increase compared to the prior quarter.

Number of installation packages for mobile banking Trojans detected by Kaspersky, Q1 2025 — Q1 2026 (download)

We saw a similar growth in the previous quarter, with banking Trojan volumes rising by 50% during that period as well. Various Mamont variants accounted for the absolute majority of packages and represented nearly every entry in the rankings of most frequent banking Trojans by affected user count.

TOP 10 mobile bankers

Verdict %* Q4 2025 %* Q1 2026 Difference in p.p. Change in ranking
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Mamont.jo 0.00 15.75 +15.75
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Mamont.jx 0.00 9.22 +9.22
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Mamont.jg 1.47 7.08 +5.61 +24
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Mamont.gg 6.79 4.48 -2.32 -3
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Mamont.ks 0.00 3.98 +3.98
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Agent.ws 6.03 3.78 -2.25 -2
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Mamont.hl 4.30 3.27 -1.03 +1
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Mamont.iv 6.00 3.08 -2.92 -3
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Mamont.jb 3.93 3.07 -0.86 +1
Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Mamont.jv 0.00 2.79 +2.79

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

Mobile malware evolution in 2025

4 March 2026 at 11:00

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.

❌