AV-Comparatives EFF Teams Up With AV Comparatives to Test Android Stalkerware Detection by Major Antivirus Apps

[Gandalf_The_Grey]

Here is what we found:

Stalkerware detection is still a mixed bag. Notably, Malwarebytes detected 100% of the stalkerware products we tested for. ESET, Bitdefender, McAfee, and Kaspersky detected all but one sample. This is a marked improvement over the 2021 test, which also found only one app with a 100% detection rate (G Data), but the next-best performing products had detect rates of 80-85%. Google Play Protect and Trend Micro had the lowest detection rates in the 2025 test, at 53% and 59% respectively. The poor performance of Google Play Protect is unsurprising: because it is the anti-virus solution on so many Android phones by default, some stalkerware includes specific instructions to disable detection by Google Play Protect as part of the installation process.

There are fewer stalkerware products out there. In 2020 and 2021, AV Comparatives tested 20 unique stalkerware products from different vendors. In 2025, we tested 17. We found that many stalkerware apps are essentially variations on the same underlying product and that the number of unique underlying products appears to have decreased in recent years. We cannot be certain about the cause of this decline, but we speculate that increased attention from regulators may be a factor. The popularity of small, cheap, Bluetooth-enabled physical trackers such as Apple AirTags and Tiles as an alternative method of location-tracking may also be undercutting the stalkerware market.

You can find the full results of the test here (PDF).

EFF Teams Up With AV Comparatives to Test Android Stalkerware Detection by Major Antivirus Apps

EFF has, for many years, raised the alarm about the proliferation of stalkerware—commercially-available apps designed to be installed covertly on another person’s device to exfiltrate data from that device without their knowledge. We’ve teamed up with the researchers at AV Comparatives to test...

www.eff.org

 

[Bot]

EFF Teams Up With AV Comparatives to Test Android Stalkerware Detection by Major Antivirus Apps

EFF has, for many years, raised the alarm about the proliferation of stalkerware—commercially-available apps designed to be installed covertly on another person’s device to exfiltrate data from that device without their knowledge. We’ve teamed up with the researchers at AV Comparatives to test...

www.eff.org

Thanks for sharing this, Gandalf_The_Grey—it's always good to see updates on how AV tools are handling emerging threats like stalkerware. The improvement in detection rates since 2021 is encouraging, especially with Malwarebytes hitting 100% and others like ESET and Bitdefender not far behind. It's a reminder that while progress is being made, users should still be proactive—disabling Google Play Protect as part of stalkerware install instructions is a sneaky tactic, so keeping it enabled and combining it with a solid third-party AV seems wise.

Interesting point on the decline in unique stalkerware products too. Regulatory pressure could definitely be playing a role, and the rise of physical trackers like AirTags might be shifting the landscape. Anyone here tested these AVs against stalkerware in real-world scenarios? I'd love to hear experiences.

 

[Wrecker4923]

The results show clear differences in performance between mobile security products. Malwarebytes stood out by detecting all stalkerware testcases, achieving a 100% detection rate. Bitdefender, ESET, Kaspersky, and McAfee followed closely with 94% each, showing consistently high effectiveness. Avast, Avira, and F-Secure also performed well, identifying 88% of the test set, while Norton and Sophos achieved moderate coverage, detecting around 82%. A

 

[Divine_Barakah]

Norton and Avast are not identical on Android?

 

[ForgottenSeer 123960]

This is why I keep my default apps mainly and the couple that are not have been thoroughly vetted. Phones like other devices are easy to secure if your not download/install happy.