Top 20 Android malware detected in 2021

 

The top 20 Android malware detected in 2021 in networks protected by Nokia NetGuard Endpoint Security.

 Mobile spyware remains the most common Android threat, accounting for more than 36% of all infections observed.

    Malware in mobile networks 

 

  Overall mobile infection rate Figure 1 shows the percentage of infected mobile devices observed monthly since August 2019. 

 This data has been averaged from mobile deployments in Europe, North America, Asia Pacific and the Middle East.In the second half of 2020 and first half of 2021, an average of 0.12% of devices were infected each month.

 This is down from the peak of 0.23% in the previous year. This peak was driven by COVID-19 lockdowns, which led to more cyber security incidents in February and March of 2020. Efforts to educate users on how to protect themselves against threats had a dramatic impact, with a noticeable decline in attacks in the following months. 

 A few minor spikes were observed in July, September and December 2020, which can be attributed to ongoing phishing campaigns.

 This is business as usual for cyber criminals, who continue to use phishing campaigns to take advantage of people seeking information about vaccines as well as online shoppers during the December holiday season.

 

 The most notable trend is the ~14% reduction in Android adware; however, this decrease has been offset by an increase in high-threat infections such as downloaders, info stealers and banking Trojans.

Next shows the distribution of Android malware infections by class, as observed in 2021 in mobile networks around the world.