Over 31,000 unique mobile users worldwide are targeted by commercial stalkerware annually, while 40% of surveyed individuals report experiencing or suspecting covert digital stalking by an intimate partner. Commercial surveillance apps—frequently marketed under the guise of parental controls or anti-theft tools—allow perpetrators to silently intercept communications, harvest real-time GPS locations, and activate microphones without user awareness. The figures below synthesize telemetry and survey findings from the Coalition Against Stalkerware, Kaspersky Security Network (KSN), the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), Malwarebytes Threat Intelligence, and the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV).
TL;DR
- 31,031 unique mobile users were affected by stalkerware globally in 2023, up 5.8% year-over-year (Kaspersky)
- 40% of survey respondents across 21 countries report experiencing or suspecting digital stalking (Kaspersky / Coalition)
- Russia, Brazil, and India account for the highest total volumes of stalkerware detections worldwide (Kaspersky)
- 30% of global survey respondents consider secret partner monitoring acceptable in specific circumstances (Coalition Against Stalkerware)
- 62% of adults in North America admit to monitoring a romantic partner’s digital activity (Malwarebytes)
- 41% of individuals monitoring a partner’s device do so without explicit permission (Malwarebytes)
- 15% of respondents worldwide were pressured or forced by a partner to install a tracking app (Kaspersky / Coalition)
- 85% to 97% of domestic violence service agencies report survivors facing tech-facilitated abuse (NNEDV Safety Net)
- 75% of domestic violence programs report abusers accessing victim accounts without consent (NNEDV Safety Net)
- Over 90% of detected consumer stalkerware attacks target the Android mobile operating system (Kaspersky / EFF)
- 100% stalkerware detection rate was achieved by Malwarebytes in the AV-Comparatives 2025 benchmark (AV-Comparatives / EFF)
- Millions of private surveillance records were leaked online due to insecure stalkerware cloud servers (Malwarebytes)
- The FTC issued a permanent commercial ban against SpyFone and its operator over covert tracking (FTC)
1. Global Infection Rates and Prevalence Trends
Infection metrics demonstrate that intimate partner surveillance has stabilized into a persistent, industrialized threat. Following an initial spike during the 2020 pandemic lockdowns, detected annual victim counts have hovered near 30,000 on monitored endpoints. Because commercial stalkerware requires physical device access and deliberate installation, these figures represent only the tip of an extensive dark figure of unmonitored devices.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Global mobile users affected in 2023 | 31,031 | Kaspersky KSN |
| Year-over-year increase in detected infections | +5.8% | Kaspersky KSN |
| Global mobile users affected in 2022 | 29,312 | Kaspersky KSN |
| Global mobile users affected in 2021 | 32,694 | Kaspersky KSN |
| Peak global mobile users affected (2020 pandemic) | 53,870 | Kaspersky KSN |
| Surveyed respondents reporting suspected or confirmed stalking | 40.0% | Coalition Against Stalkerware |
Underlying monitoring vectors correlate with our digital privacy statistics. Source: Kaspersky Security Network.
2. Geographic Hotspots and Regional Distribution
The geographical distribution of stalkerware incidents reveals concentrated hotspots driven by differing regional app store usage, local device permissions, and awareness levels. Russia, Brazil, and India consistently lead global detection tables, while European nations such as Germany and Italy record hundreds of individual cases annually.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Russia annual detected victims | 9,890 | Kaspersky KSN |
| Brazil annual detected victims | 4,186 | Kaspersky KSN |
| India annual detected victims | 2,492 | Kaspersky KSN |
| Iran annual detected victims | 1,754 | Kaspersky KSN |
| Turkey annual detected victims | 1,283 | Kaspersky KSN |
| Germany annual detected victims (top in EU) | 1,077 | Kaspersky KSN |
| United States annual detected victims | 874 | Kaspersky KSN |
Broader mobile intrusion telemetry connects to our cybersecurity statistics. Source: Coalition Against Stalkerware.
3. Partner Surveillance and Behavioral Attitudes
Social acceptance of interpersonal digital surveillance presents a major barrier to eradication. Extensive global polling underscores a striking cognitive dissonance: while large majorities condemn digital harassment in the abstract, nearly a third of surveyed adults rationalize covert partner tracking under motives of suspected infidelity or personal safety.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Surveyed adults considering secret partner monitoring acceptable | 30.0% | Coalition Against Stalkerware |
| Adults admitting to monitoring a partner’s online activities | 62.0% | Malwarebytes |
| Partner-monitoring individuals acting without consent | 41.0% | Malwarebytes |
| Respondents forced by an intimate partner to install a tracker app | 15.0% | Kaspersky / Coalition |
| Surveyed individuals admitting to installing spy apps on partner phones | 9.6% | Kaspersky KSN |
| Victims discovering monitoring who directly confronted the perpetrator | 34.0% | Coalition Against Stalkerware |
Unauthorized credential theft links directly to our identity theft statistics. Source: Malwarebytes Threat Intelligence.
4. Domestic Violence and Tech-Facilitated Abuse
In domestic violence contexts, mobile spyware functions not as an isolated technological novelty, but as a potent mechanism of coercive control. Field research from survivor advocacy networks demonstrates that digital stalking almost invariably accompanies physical and psychological abuse, leaving victims vulnerable to real-time physical stalking and continuous intimidation.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Domestic violence programs reporting tech-facilitated abuse | 85.0% - 97.0% | NNEDV Safety Net |
| Programs reporting unauthorized account access by abusers | 75.0% | NNEDV Safety Net |
| Programs reporting GPS or real-time location tracking of victims | 67.0% | NNEDV Safety Net |
| Programs reporting hidden spyware or stalkerware app installations | 54.0% | NNEDV Safety Net |
| Survivors harassed via text, phone spoofing, or mobile messaging | 86.0% | NNEDV Safety Net |
| Advocates reporting abuser misuse of connected smart-home IoT devices | 27.0% | NNEDV Safety Net |
Victim safety planning and support documentation are available at NNEDV Safety Net.
5. Mobile Platforms and Dual-Use Evasion Tactics
The technical architecture of modern mobile operating systems shapes how stalkerware propagates. Android accounts for the vast majority of active infections due to permissive application installation flows, where abusers abuse Android Accessibility Services to log keystrokes and hide application launcher icons. Commercial vendors evade platform bans by marketing identical binaries under innocuous child-tracking or fleet-management labels.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Share of detected stalkerware targeting Android operating system | >90.0% | Kaspersky / EFF |
| Mobile security solutions evaluated in AV-Comparatives benchmark | 13 | AV-Comparatives / EFF |
| Diverse commercial stalkerware families tested | 17 | AV-Comparatives / EFF |
| Top commercial stalkerware apps analyzed (Cerberus, mSpy, TrackView) | 3 | Kaspersky Threat Intelligence |
| Stalkerware apps masquerading as parental control or child safety tools | 68.0% | EFF Research |
| Android accessibility service abuse rate in top surveillance apps | 74.0% | Malwarebytes |
Mobile device telemetry connects with our endpoint security statistics. Source: Electronic Frontier Foundation.
6. Antivirus Detection, Server Leaks, and Regulatory Enforcement
The security ecosystem has mounted aggressive technical and legal countermeasures against commercial spyware vendors. Dedicated antivirus heuristics now reliably flag hidden monitorware, while regulatory enforcers have demonstrated willingness to shut down illicit operators. Paradoxically, the software engineering of stalkerware vendors remains notoriously reckless, routinely exposing harvested victim photos, location trails, and call recordings to open web leaks.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Malwarebytes stalkerware detection rate in AV-Comparatives 2025 | 100.0% | AV-Comparatives |
| Average detection rate across all tested mobile security suites | 89.4% | AV-Comparatives / EFF |
| Stalkerware vendor cloud servers suffering public data leaks | 5+ | Malwarebytes Threat Intelligence |
| Leaked records and location logs exposed by breached spy apps | Millions | TechCrunch / Malwarebytes |
| SpyFone server breach exposing unencrypted user records | 2,200 | FTC Enforcement Record |
| Permanent market bans issued by FTC against stalkerware operators | 1 | Federal Trade Commission |
Sources: AV-Comparatives and Federal Trade Commission.
Summary: Stalkerware by the Numbers
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Global mobile users affected in 2023 | 31,031 | Kaspersky KSN |
| Annual increase in detected infections (YoY) | +5.8% | Kaspersky KSN |
| Peak global infections recorded (2020) | 53,870 | Kaspersky KSN |
| Surveyed individuals reporting stalking experience | 40.0% | Coalition Against Stalkerware |
| Russia annual stalkerware detections | 9,890 | Kaspersky KSN |
| Brazil annual stalkerware detections | 4,186 | Kaspersky KSN |
| India annual stalkerware detections | 2,492 | Kaspersky KSN |
| United States annual stalkerware detections | 874 | Kaspersky KSN |
| Survey respondents accepting secret partner monitoring | 30.0% | Coalition Against Stalkerware |
| Adults admitting to monitoring a partner’s device | 62.0% | Malwarebytes |
| Partner-monitoring adults acting without permission | 41.0% | Malwarebytes |
| Victims coerced into installing monitoring software | 15.0% | Kaspersky / Coalition |
| Domestic abuse agencies reporting tech-facilitated abuse | 85.0% - 97.0% | NNEDV Safety Net |
| Abusers gaining unauthorized access to victim accounts | 75.0% | NNEDV Safety Net |
| Abusers tracking victims via GPS location tools | 67.0% | NNEDV Safety Net |
| Stalkerware targeting the Android mobile platform | >90.0% | Kaspersky / EFF |
| Malwarebytes detection score in AV-Comparatives 2025 | 100.0% | AV-Comparatives |
| SpyFone users exposed in unsecured database leak | 2,200 | FTC |
Methodology and Sources
The data in this benchmark report aggregates technical threat intelligence, device telemetry, national victim service surveys, and regulatory enforcement dockets published between 2020 and 2026.
- Coalition Against Stalkerware: Coalition Against Stalkerware (cross-industry detection standards and global stalking survey data).
- Kaspersky Security Network: Kaspersky Security Network (State of Stalkerware annual threat reports and regional mobile telemetry).
- Electronic Frontier Foundation: Electronic Frontier Foundation (digital rights analysis, dual-use app investigations, and survivor advocacy).
- Malwarebytes Threat Intelligence: Malwarebytes Threat Intelligence (mobile monitorware tracking, server breach analyses, and partner monitoring surveys).
- National Network to End Domestic Violence: NNEDV Safety Net (technology abuse surveys across domestic violence service programs).
- AV-Comparatives: AV-Comparatives (independent annual Android stalkerware detection benchmarks).
- Federal Trade Commission: Federal Trade Commission (regulatory enforcement actions and commercial bans on surveillance app operators).
Data watch: Stalkerware detection metrics reflect only devices protected by participating security software, meaning total infections are underreported due to the hidden nature of surveillance tools. Disparities exist between reported survivor experiences in domestic abuse service agencies and commercial telemetry counts, as many abusers rely on basic account compromise, location sharing, or physical Bluetooth tags rather than formal stalkerware APKs. Threat reports update on an annual schedule.
Last updated: August 22, 2026. We update this data quarterly as new supervisory audits and threat research are released.