A report by Kaspersky Lab has placed Nigeria third among countries where the highest number of mobile malware threats were detected in 2018.
Kaspersky Lab’s mobile malware evolution 2018 report ranked Nigeria 3rd on its top 10 list of most affected countries.
The country accounted for 37.72 percent of all mobile malware attacks in 2018.
In Africa, Nigeria is the most affected, followed by Algeria, Tanzania and Kenya.
The study shows there were 116.5 million mobile malware attacks which is almost double the number of attacks that were witnessed in 2017.
These attacks affected over 9,895,774 users across the world, compared to 774,000 the previous year.
“In 2018, mobile device users faced what could have been the fiercest cybercriminal onslaught ever seen.
“This trend demonstrates the growing need for mobile security solutions to be installed on smartphones – to protect users from device infection attempts, regardless of the source,” Kaspersky Lab’s security expert, Viсtor Chebyshev mentioned.
Cybercriminals increasingly used Trojan-Droppers – which is a type of attack where malicious software is installed secretly through a legitimately looking app.
This type of attack is common with Android devices, where there are millions of applications making it hard to vet which ones are legitimate.
Top 10 countries by share of users attacked by mobile malware
1. Iran – 44.24
2. Bangladesh – 42.98
3. Nigeria – 37.72
4. India – 36.08
5. Algeria – 35.06
6. Indonesia – 34.84
7. Pakistan – 32.62
8. Tanzania – 31.34
9. Kenya – 29.72
10. Philippines – 26.81
About Kaspersky Lab
Kaspersky Lab is a global cybersecurity company, which has been operating in the market for over 21 years. The company’s comprehensive security portfolio includes leading endpoint protection and a number of specialized security solutions and services to fight sophisticated and evolving digital threats.
