Security News > 2021 > February > Stalkerware Volumes Remain Concerningly High, Despite Bans

According to Kaspersky's "The State of Stalkerware 2020" report, there were 53,870 mobile users within its telemetry who were affected by stalkerware during the year.

This is despite the fact that Google banned stalkerware apps from Google Play last year.

The Coalition Against Stalkerware warns that these pernicious apps "May facilitate intimate partner surveillance, harassment, abuse, stalking and/or violence."

"We see the number of users affected by stalkerware has remained high and we detect new samples every day," said Victor Chebyshev, research development team lead, Kaspersky, in a media statement.

Stalkerware companies have also sold apps that purport to help parents track their young children - even though their capabilities could be used for other purposes.

"Due to the distribution vector of such applications which are very different from common malware distribution schemes, it is impossible to get infected with a stalkerware through a spam message including a link to stalkerware or a trap via normal web surfing."

News URL

https://threatpost.com/stalkerware-volumes-high-bans/164325/