The number of users being followed through stalker software is growing

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Kaspersky Lab analysts have published a report on the problem of stalkerware. This term refers to surveillance software that is positioned as legal and can be bought in the public domain.

Researchers estimate that in the first eight months of this year (January to August), more than 37,000 users around the world faced such threats. Compared to the same period in 2018, this figure increased by 35%.

But the number of victims in Russia is growing faster than the global indicators. So, according to company statistics, from January to August 2018, just over 4,500 users encountered stalker programs, while in 2019 this figure was already almost 10,000. Thus, over the year, the number of victims in Russia has more than doubled.

Stalkerware victims in 2020

Also, the researchers recorded an increase in the number of samples of stalker software. During the reporting period of 2019, the company discovered 380 variants of stalker programs, which is almost a third more than a year earlier.

“Against the background of higher rates of malware infection, statistics on stalker programs may not look so impressive. However, in the case of such surveillance software, as a rule, there are no accidental victims - in most cases these are people well known to the organizer of the surveillance, for example, a spouse. In addition, the use of such software is often associated with the threat of domestic violence. In addition, physical access to the device is required to install the program itself. That is why the numbers turn out to be noticeably lower, ”explains Vladimir Kuskov, head of the mobile threats research department at Kaspersky Lab.

The most common malware detected by experts was Monitor.AndroidOS.MobileTracker.a. It is positioned as a tool for monitoring the employees of organizations. However, in reality, malware can conduct surveillance covertly, disguising itself as system applications, and collect a lot of various confidential data. In particular, information about geolocation, correspondence in SMS and instant messengers, phone calls, photo and video files, make recordings from the camera (including in real time), browser history, files, as well as information from the calendar and contact list. Among other things, this program makes it possible to remotely control the device on which it is installed.

 

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Russia leads in the number of stalker programs on smartphones of citizens​

In the first half of 2021, experts found much more stalker apps on Russian smartphones than in the first six months of 2019. According to Kaspersky Lab, this figure has increased by 28%.

Stalkerware (as foreign colleagues call this kind of software) has long been controversial among cybersecurity experts. Initially, such programs were not considered malicious, but now more and more experts are inclined to unambiguously classify stalker software as malicious.

Stalkerware is successfully sold through special sites, but official app stores try not to place them on their sites. With the help of stalker programs, it is possible to view the victim's media files and even extract private correspondence.

Such software is often used by spouses who want to tightly control their lovers.

Unfortunately, as Kaspersky Lab researchers have found out, Russia is currently the leader in the number of stalker applications installed on smartphones.
But the rest of the world is not lagging behind. In the first six months of 2020, the total number of stalkerware increased by 39% compared to last year. In Europe, users from Italy, Germany and the UK are the most frequent victims of such espionage.