What is mobile malware?

13th October 2025

These malware attacks are designed to target your phone – are you prepared, or do you need to give a security provider a call?

Most of us in the modern world use smartphones in our everyday lives: they contain our banking, our employment details, health records, our social lives – pretty much anything that you can think of is available on your phone, which is what makes it such a promising target for cyber criminals.

Mobile malware is designed to attack smartphones specifically. The malware in question is what you might expect – I’ve written articles on them before – but they work in particular ways to target smartphone users best:

Trojan apps: like trojan viruses, these apps pretend to be legitimate but perform malicious actions once installed. They can send premium rate SMS, install other malware or steal data, and after replicate banking apps.

Spyware: secretly monitors user activity, including calls, messages, location and camera, which has different implications on mobile rather than an office PC. Bad actors can use this for surveillance and stalking.

Adware: bombards users with unwanted ads, collects data and slows the device down – in this case, very similar to other devices.

Worms: self-replicating malware that spreads via SMS, Bluetooth or messaging apps, all more frequently used on mobiles. Contacts and networks can be infected without the user needing to do anything.

Ransomware: this is the one form of malware that is less common on mobile, but it can still happen. Your device can be locked, the data encrypted, and a ransom demanded for release.

As you can see, mobile malware works slightly differently to regular malware, and it can be more dangerous too. Desktop computers tend to have more security in place, but we forget to do the same for our phones. Android is the biggest target because of its open ecosystem, but mobiles are a weak spot in cyber security.

To prevent it becoming a problem for you, ensure you check where you download apps from, keep your apps and systems updated, use security apps, avoid clicking on unknown links and use VPNs where you can. Enable app permissions carefully – don’t grant access to everything.

If you would like more information on the threat of mobile malware, or malware in general, please contact Interfuture Security here.

YouTube: https://youtu.be/rF1Aw59gJvU