Zimperium Global Mobile Threat Report 2025

Keypoints

• Annual cybersecurity reports typically begin with an Executive Summary providing high-level insights and key findings, followed by detailed sections covering the threat landscape, specific platform threats (e.g., iOS and Android), vulnerabilities in enterprise apps, and recommendations for mitigation.
• Reports include detailed analysis of attack vectors such as mishing (mobile phishing), sideloaded apps, malware families (spyware, Trojans), and device vulnerability management supported by CVE data and trends.
• Key statistics often highlight the prevalence and growth of specific threats, for example, mishing representing roughly one-third of identified threats with smishing comprising over two-thirds of mishing attacks, and 23.5% of enterprise devices having sideloaded apps.
• Notable findings emphasize the risk posed by unsupported or outdated mobile OS versions running on over 25% of devices, increasing enterprise exposure to exploits due to delayed security patches.
• Recurring themes include the critical role of continuous app vetting to assess third-party and work app risks, and the importance of device attestation to detect untrusted execution environments and safeguard sensitive data.
• Reports highlight evolving attacker tactics such as using PDF phishing in mobile smishing campaigns and supply chain attacks through precompiled third-party SDKs shipped without complete SBOMs.
• Insights show geographic trends in data communication, with many work apps connecting to risky or embargoed countries, raising compliance and data sovereignty concerns.
• Recommendations consistently focus on enforcing rigorous app security processes, leveraging AI-enabled threat defenses, mandating timely OS updates, and fostering collaboration between development and security teams to reduce mobile attack surfaces.
• Reports also tailor analyses to sectors such as the US public sector, stressing conditional access policies, user education on secure Wi-Fi usage, and strict app vetting for sensitive environments.
• Overall, these reports serve as essential guides to understanding the current mobile threat ecosystem, emphasizing strategic, technology-driven approaches to defend increasingly mobile-dependent organizations.