XLoader and FakeSpy are two of the most prevalent malware families that emerged from the mobile threat landscape recently. We first reported about XLoader in April 2018 when it used Domain Name System (DNS) cache poisoning/DNS spoofing to victimize users with malicious Android apps that steal PII and financial data and install additional apps. Meanwhile, we released our findings on FakeSpy in June after it infected Android users via SMS phishing or SMiShing to launch info-stealing attacks.

As of October, there have been a combined total of 384,748 victims from XLoader and FakeSpy attacks globally, with the majority of victims coming from South Korea and Japan.