Mobile malware attacks decreased in South Africa in 2019 – report

Mobile malware attacks decreased in South Africa in 2019 when compared to 2018, according to a new report by Kaspersky.

The security firm noted in its Mobile Malware Evolution report that the overall number of mobile users attacked by malware decreased from 19 981 in 2018 to 12 713 in 2019.

These numbers are garnered from active users of Kaspersky’s mobile security software.

Interestingly, South Africa’s numbers differ greatly over other regions across the world.

“Mobile Advertising Trojans and stalkerware witnessed a solid rise globally in 2019, increasingly jeopardising the personal data of smartphone users,” the report explained.

This doesn’t mean South Africa’s exempt from mobile attacks, though.

According to Kaspersky, adware is the country’s biggest problem accounting for more than 50% of attacks in 2019.

“The former collects troves of private information to show users targeted banner ads. Apart from the usually annoying banners, there is another dimension to this type of attack – victim’s sensitive data may end up on third-party servers without consent or knowledge,” the company added.

Globally, this number’s up massively. Just over 440 000 attacker were recorded by Kaspersky in 2018. That number ballooned to 764 000 in 2019.

Mobile security could be worse in South Africa. Kaspersky noted that just over 16.5% of users experienced a mobile malware attack in 2019. More than 60% of users in Iran, 44% of those in Pakistan and 43% in Bangladesh experienced a mobile malware attack last year.

Feature image: TheDigitalWay via Pixabay