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Doctor Web’s review of virus activity on mobile devices in 2023
In 2023, ad-displaying trojans were the most common Android threats. Compared with the year prior, spyware trojans were less active and ranked second in terms of the number of times they were detected on devices protected with the Dr.Web anti-virus.
17.04.2024 | About viruses
Doctor Web’s February 2024 review of virus activity on mobile devices
According to detection statistics collected by the Dr.Web for Android anti-virus, February 2024 saw a significant increase in Android.HiddenAds trojan family activity―it was up 73.26% from January. At the same time, users were 58.85% less likely to encounter the adware trojan family Android.MobiDash .
01.04.2024 | About viruses
Doctor Web’s February 2024 virus activity review
An analysis of Dr.Web anti-virus detection statistics for February 2024 revealed a 1.26% increase in the total number of threats detected, compared to January. At the same time, the number of unique threats decreased by 0.78%. Once again various ad-displaying trojans and unwanted adware programs occupied the leading positions in terms of the number of detections. Moreover, malicious apps that are distributed with other threats to make them more difficult to detect remained highly active. In email traffic, malicious scripts, phishing documents, and programs that exploit vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office software were most commonly detected.
01.04.2024 | About viruses
Doctor Web’s January 2024 review of virus activity on mobile devices
According to detection statistics collected by the Dr.Web for Android anti-virus, in January 2024, users were most likely to encounter Android.HiddenAds trojan applications; these were detected on protected devices 54.45% more often than in December 2023. At the same time, the activity of another adware trojan family, Android.MobiDash , remained virtually unchanged, increasing by only 0.90%.
29.03.2024 | About viruses
Doctor Web’s January 2024 virus activity review
An analysis of Dr.Web anti-virus detection statistics for January 2024 revealed a 95.66% increase in the total number of threats detected, compared to December 2023. At the same time, the number of unique threats increased by 2.15%. Unwanted adware software and adware trojans were most frequently detected as were malicious programs distributed with other threats to make the latter more difficult to detect. In mail traffic, malicious scripts and phishing documents were most commonly observed.
29.03.2024 | About viruses
Study of a targeted attack on a Russian enterprise in the mechanical-engineering sector
In October 2023, Doctor Web was contacted by a Russian mechanical-engineering enterprise that suspected malware was on one of its computers. Our specialists investigated this incident and determined that the affected company had encountered a targeted attack. During this attack, malicious actors had sent phishing emails with an attachment containing the malicious program responsible for the initial system infection and installing other malicious instruments in the system.
11.03.2024 | About viruses
Doctor Web’s December 2023 review of virus activity on mobile devices
According to detection statistics collected by the Dr.Web for Android anti-virus, in December 2023, adware trojans from the Android.HiddenAds family were again the most active malicious programs. However, users encountered them 53.89% less often, compared to the previous month. In addition, the number of banking malware and spyware trojan attacks also decreased—by 0.88% and 10.83%, respectively.
30.01.2024 | About viruses
Doctor Web’s December 2023 virus activity review
An analysis of Dr.Web anti-virus detection statistics for December 2023 revealed a 40.87% increase in the total number of threats detected, compared to November. The number of unique threats also increased by 24.55%. Once again, most commonly detected were adware trojans and unwanted adware programs as well as malicious programs that are distributed with other threats to make them more difficult to detect. In email traffic, phishing documents of various formats were most frequently found.
30.01.2024 | About viruses
Doctor Web’s November 2023 virus activity review
An analysis of Dr.Web anti-virus November detection statistics revealed an 18.09% decrease in the total number of threats detected, compared to October. At the same time, the number of unique threats also decreased by 13.79%. Among the most commonly detected threats were unwanted adware programs, adware trojans, and malicious apps that are distributed along with other threats to make the latter more difficult to detect. Email traffic was dominated by phishing documents. Also commonly encountered were malicious scripts, programs that exploit vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office documents, and various downloaders that download other malware onto target computers.
21.12.2023 | About viruses
Doctor Web’s November 2023 review of virus activity on mobile devices
According to the detection statistics collected by Dr.Web for Android, in November 2023, users were less likely to encounter adware trojans from the Android.HiddenAds and Android.MobiDash families. The activity of the former decreased by a quarter (25.03%) and the latter—by more than a third (35.87%). Moreover, banking trojans and malicious spyware apps were detected less often—by 3.53% and 17.10%, respectively.
21.12.2023 | About viruses
Doctor Web’s October 2023 review of virus activity on mobile devices
According to detection statistics collected by Dr.Web for Android, in October 2023, adware trojans from the Android.HiddenAds family were most often detected. Their activity increased by 46.16%, compared to the previous month. The second most widespread adware trojans, which belong to the Android.MobiDash family, also increased in number—by 7.07%. In addition, users encountered spyware trojans and banking malware more often—by 18.27% and 10.73%, respectively.
22.11.2023 | About viruses
Doctor Web’s October 2023 virus activity review
An analysis of Dr.Web October detection statistics revealed a 49.73% decrease in the total number of threats detected, compared to September. At the same time, the number of unique threats increased by 12.50%. As before, adware trojans and unwanted adware programs were detected most often. In email traffic, malicious scripts, phishing documents, and apps that exploit vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office documents dominated once again.
17.11.2023 | About viruses
Doctor Web’s September 2023 review of virus activity on mobile devices
In early September, Doctor Web published a study of Android.Pandora.2 , a backdoor that creates a botnet of infected devices and can carry out DDoS attacks at the command of threat actors. In the middle of the month, our specialists informed users about malicious programs from the Android.Spy.Lydia family. These multi-functional spyware trojans target Iranian users. Members of this family are camouflaged as a financial platform for online trading; they can perform various malicious actions at the command of attackers. This includes intercepting and sending SMS, collecting information about user phonebook contacts, hijacking clipboard contents, loading phishing websites, and so on. The Android.Spy.Lydia trojans can be used in a variety of fraudulent schemes and to steal personal data. Moreover, with their help, threat actors can steal their victims’ money.
26.10.2023 | About viruses
Doctor Web’s September 2023 virus activity review
An analysis of Dr.Web September detection statistics revealed a 0.44% decrease in the total number of threats detected, compared to August. The number of unique threats also decreased— by 11.98%. Adware trojans and adware programs again were among the most popular threats. In email traffic, malicious scripts, phishing documents, and software that exploit vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office documents were detected most often.
26.10.2023 | About viruses
Doctor Web’s August 2023 virus activity review
An analysis of Dr.Web August detection statistics revealed a 4.05% increase in the total number of threats detected, compared to July. The number of unique threats increased by 3.35%. Most often, users encountered adware software. In email traffic, malicious scripts, phishing documents, and programs that exploit vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office documents were most prevalent.
27.09.2023 | About viruses
Doctor Web’s August 2023 review of virus activity on mobile devices
According to detection statistics collected by Dr.Web for Android, in August 2023, adware trojans from the Android.MobiDash and Android.HiddenAds families were again among the most widespread Android malware. At the same time, the former were detected 72.23% more often, while the activity of the latter decreased by 8.87%, compared to the previous month.
27.09.2023 | About viruses
Vulnerability in Openfire messaging software allows unauthorized access to compromised servers
Doctor Web is notifying users about the spread of malicious plugins for the Openfire messaging server. To date, more than 3,000 servers worldwide that have Openfire software installed on them have been affected by a vulnerability that lets hackers gain access to the file system and use the infected servers as part of a botnet.
25.09.2023 | About viruses
The art of manipulation: fraudsters steal money with remote administration software for mobile devices
Doctor Web is reporting on the growing number of fraud cases involving remote desktop access applications. RustDesk is the most popular among attackers.
22.09.2023 | About viruses
Doctor Web’s July 2023 virus activity review
An analysis of Dr.Web July detection statistics revealed a 5.31% decrease in the total number of threats detected, compared to June. The number of unique threats also decreased—by 17.62%. The majority of detections were again due to adware trojans. In email traffic, malicious scripts, phishing documents, and software that exploit Microsoft Office vulnerabilities were most often encountered.
15.09.2023 | About viruses
Doctor Web’s July 2023 review of virus activity on mobile devices
According to detection statistics collected by Dr.Web for Android, in July 2023, users encountered Android.HiddenAds adware trojans 33.48% more often, compared to June. At the same time, adware trojans from the Android.MobiDash were detected 24.11% less often. The number of spyware trojan attacks decreased by 2.81%, compared to the previous month. In contrast, the activity of banking trojans increased by 2.31%, while the activity of ransomware from the Android.Locker family increased by 8.53%.
15.09.2023 | About viruses
Android.Spy.Lydia trojans masquerade as an Iranian online trading platform
Doctor Web has detected new versions of the Android.Spy.Lydia trojans, which engage in a variety of spyware activities on infected Android devices and provide attackers with remote control capabilities to steal personal information and funds. Moreover, the trojans have a defense mechanism that checks whether they are being launched in an emulator or on a test device. In such cases, the trojans stop working.
13.09.2023 | About viruses
Pandora's box is now open: the well-known Mirai trojan arrives in a new disguise to Android-based TV sets and TV boxes
Doctor Web has identified a family of Android.Pandora trojans that compromise Android devices, either during firmware updates or when applications for viewing pirated video content are installed. This backdoor inherited its advanced DDoS-attack capabilities from its ancestor, the well-known Linux.Mirai trojan.
06.09.2023 | About viruses
Doctor Web’s June 2023 review of virus activity on mobile devices
According to detection statistics collected by Dr.Web for Android, in June 2023, the activity of Android.HiddenAds adware trojans increased by 10.93%. At the same time, adware trojans from the Android.MobiDash family were detected 15.94% less often on protected devices. Compared to May, the number of spyware trojan and banking malware attacks decreased by 47.15% and 12.23%, respectively. In addition, users encountered ransomware malware from the Android.Locker family 46.30% more often.
06.09.2023 | About viruses
Doctor Web’s June 2023 virus activity review
An analysis of Dr.Web June detection statistics revealed a 5.40% decrease in the total number of threats detected, compared to May. At the same time, the number of unique threats increased by 21.37%. Among the most common threats were various adware apps and trojans distributed as part of other malware. In email traffic, phishing PDF documents dominated once again.
06.09.2023 | About viruses
Fruity trojan downloader performs multi-stage infection of Windows computers
Doctor Web has uncovered an attack on Windows users involving a modular downloader trojan dubbed Trojan.Fruity.1. With its help, threat actors can infect computers with different types of malware, depending on the attackers’ goals. To conceal an attack and increase the chances of it being successful, they use a variety of tricks. These include a multi-stage infection process for target systems, using harmless apps for launching components of the trojan, and trying to bypass anti-virus protection.
27.07.2023 | About viruses
