Kaspersky has published new research examining the scale of technology facilitated abuse, with findings showing that digital stalking and doxing have become increasingly common experiences among users across multiple markets. The cybersecurity company’s global study found that 8.5% of respondents reported experiencing digital stalking, while 5.4% said they had been victims of doxing.
The study, conducted by Kaspersky’s internal market research center, surveyed 7,600 respondents across countries including Brazil, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, India and China, combining quantitative research with an assessment of evolving cybercriminal activity linked to surveillance and personal data exposure.
Technology facilitated abuse covers a range of behaviors enabled or amplified through connected devices, social platforms and digital services. According to the report, these activities can include cyberstalking, impersonation, unauthorized monitoring, harassment and online exclusion, often making detection difficult because incidents may leave limited physical evidence or become embedded within everyday digital interactions.
“Technology-enabled abuse is still not widely recognised as a distinct category of harm, in part because there is no shared understanding of what it includes, which this study vividly highlights. This lack of clarity means many experiences go unnamed, unreported, and unsupported. Without a common framework, it remains difficult to measure the scale of the problem or respond to it effectively,” says Dr Leonie Maria Tanczer, Associate Professor at UCL Computer Science and Head of the Department's Gender and Tech Research Lab.
Alongside consumer research findings, Kaspersky’s Digital Footprint Intelligence researchers identified a growing marketplace for surveillance related services and tools. According to the company, dark web forums now advertise doxing services priced between US$50 and US$4,000, while surveillance tools capable of extracting personal information or monitoring targets continue to expand.
The company said stalkerware activity remains active across global markets. Stalkerware refers to software, applications and connected devices that allow someone to monitor another person’s smartphone activity without their knowledge, including messages, location data, browsing history, calls and stored content.
Kaspersky said it identified 33 previously unseen stalkerware families between 2024 and 2025, with affected users detected across more than 160 countries, suggesting continued development activity among vendors building surveillance tools.
“Stalkerware, which can be easily downloaded and installed by anyone with an Internet connection, allows perpetrators to remotely access a victim's smartphone from anywhere. Since the software operates in the background without being visible, most victims remain completely unaware that their every move and action is being monitored. That’s why it is highly important to know how to identify such activity and what to do if users suspect stalking activity against them,” says Tatyana Shishkova, Lead Security Researcher, Acting Head of Research Center Americas & Europe at Kaspersky’s Global Research and Analysis Team (GReAT).
Kaspersky is also among the co founders of the Coalition Against Stalkerware, an international initiative that brings together technology companies, research institutions, nongovernmental organizations and law enforcement groups working on cyberstalking prevention and victim support.
The report highlights a broader challenge for organizations, researchers and policymakers attempting to track abuse patterns as surveillance technologies become easier to access and deploy.
