Mobile malware prevalence drops despite rising trojans

Mobile trojan detections have significantly increased in the first quarter of 2022 even though mobile malware volumes have dwindled since 2020, suggesting the increasing push toward more advanced threat campaigns, BleepingComputer reports. Even though less advanced adware and "risk tools" remained to be the bulk of distributed mobile malware last quarter, mobile banking trojans rose by nearly 40% in the first quarter of this year over the previous quarter and by twofold over the same period last year, a Kaspersky report revealed. Eighty-one percent of all mobile trojans detected last quarter were attributed to the "Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Bray" family. The report also showed the growing prevalence of fraudulent apps distributed through the Google Play Store and other official app stores, while the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine has been exploited for phony apps pledging financial assistance to those impacted by sanctions. Threat actors have also been using payday loan apps to target Mexico-, Brazil-, and India-based users.