SMS Trojan
Overall Malware Detection
During the 12-month study period, more than 3.4 million malware detections were reported by Kaspersky Lab security products on devices owned by more than 1 million users.
Increases Over Eight-Month Period
From August 2013 to March 2014, the number of monthly malware attacks increased nearly tenfold. Starting at 69,000 detections in August, they reached a peak of 644,000 by March 2014.
A Short Decline, but a Decline Nonetheless
From April to July 2014, the number of detected malware attacks began falling, dropping to less than 300,000 incidents by July. During this four-month period, June had the fewest malware attacks with just 216,000 detected incidents.
Distribution of Attacks–Russia, Not Forgotten
52% of detected malware incidents occurred in Russia, but this was likely due to the fact that many users sending their data to Kaspersky resided in the country. Another factor is the widespread availability of mobile payment services available in the country.
U.S. Not Left Out
Of the 15 top countries with the most reported malware attacks, the U.S. fell to 11th place, but only accounted for 1.13% of all detected attacks.
The Most Active Malware Types
Of the 10 most widespread malware types, Trojan-Short Message Service (SMS) came in at the top, accounting for 57.08% of all attacks, followed by RiskTool programs, at 21.52%, and adware, at 7.37%.
Top 10 Countries With Trojan-SMS Attacks
More than 1.25 million Trojan-SMS attacks were reported in Russia, followed by 111,169 in Kazakhstan and 64,592 in the Ukraine. France placed last of the 10 with 25,729 detections, while the United Kingdom, Spain and Germany fell somewhere in between. The United States was not among the top 10 at all.
Malware Made Just for Stealing Money
Malware created just for the purpose of stealing money, most often the Trojan-SMS and Trojan-banker types, accounted for 59.06% of all attacks and was found on the devices of nearly 50% of all users in the study.
Trojan Modifications Alive and Well
During the 12-month study period, 452 modifications of 62 Trojans with SMS texting capabilities were detected on user devices.