NEW DELHI: India recorded the highest number of mobile threat detections among eight Asia-Pacific markets analysed by cybersecurity firm Kaspersky in the first quarter of 2026, highlighting the growing risks for users as attackers become more persistent and sophisticated.India saw 18,187 mobile threat detections during the quarter, ahead of Indonesia at 15,163, making the two countries the region’s largest markets by threat volume, according to Kaspersky.The company said India continues to face malware such as the Rewardsteal Trojan, which disguises itself as reward or giveaway applications to steal sensitive user information.Researchers have also seen a resurgence of the Thamera Trojan, which can hijack devices and use them to create fraudulent social media accounts at scale.Across the eight Apac markets studied, the average number of mobile threat detections per affected user increased 49% year-on-year to 7.3 in the first quarter, from 4.9 a year earlier. The increase came even as the overall number of users encountering threats declined, suggesting that cybercriminals are concentrating their efforts on a smaller set of targets and attacking them more repeatedly.Attackers are also increasingly using fake promotions, phishing pages, fraudulent surveys and malicious advertisements to steal credentials and personal information. Such links are being distributed through messaging apps, SMS, social media, fake job offers and cryptocurrency promotions.“Across Apac, mobile threats are becoming increasingly sophisticated, with cybercriminals combining stealthy attack techniques, persistent malware and AI-powered deception to target consumers,” said Choon Hong Chee, head of consumer channel for Apac at Kaspersky.
