‘Cybercriminals spread malware thru messaging apps’

ISLAMABAD: A leading cybersecurity company Wednesday revealed that the cybercriminals are increasingly exploit popular messaging apps to spread malware in the financial sector companies.

Kaspersky Security Bulletin-2025 provided a review of the major cybersecurity trends of the year and offers a look towards the future of cybersecurity, focusing on the financial sector in its first part.

According to the report, in 2025, the financial sector navigated a rapidly evolving cyber landscape, with malware spreading through messaging apps, AI-assisted attacks, supply chain compromises, and NFC-based fraud.

Based on Kaspersky Security Network statistics for the year (from November 2024 to October 2025), 8.15 percent of users in the finance sector faced online threats and 15.81 percent faced local (on-device) threats. 1,338,357 banking Trojan attacks were detected by the company’s solutions. 12.8 percent of B2B finance sector companies faced ransomware this year – that marks a 35.7 percent increase in unique users in 2025 compared to the same period of 2024.