Tech-enabled abuse is now affecting almost half of adults worldwide, yet many people still do not recognise it when it happens to them.

Alongside that awareness gap, stalking and doxing services are being advertised on dark web forums for as little as $50, pointing to a wider market around digital intimidation and surveillance.

Research from Kaspersky, the cybersecurity and digital privacy company, of 7,600 adults across 19 countries reveals that 45.7% of respondents have experienced at least one form of tech-enabled abuse in the past year, while only 32% say they understand what the term means.

Tech-enabled abuse – harmful behaviour carried out or amplified through digital tools – includes smartphones, messaging apps, social media platforms and online accounts. It also includes cyberstalking, impersonation, doxing, harassment, exclusion and unauthorised monitoring.

Among those affected, respondents report an average of 2.7 different types of harmful behaviour. The most common is being blocked or excluded in a way intended to cause harm, reported by 16.7% of respondents, followed by offensive or rude messages at 15.1%.

Abuse often goes unnamed

“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,” Dr Leonie Maria Tanczer, Associate Professor at UCL Computer Science and Head of the Department’s Gender and Tech Research Lab, said. “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.”

Kaspersky’s research also shows that 8.5% of respondents have experienced digital stalking, while 5.4% report being doxxed.

Doxing involves exposing someone’s personal information without consent. In some cases, that can include home addresses, phone numbers, workplace details, identity documents or other private data.

Doxing becomes a priced service

On dark web forums, doxing now appears as a priced service. Kaspersky’s Digital Footprint Intelligence experts identify listings offering to expose personal information for between $50 and $4,000.

Stalkerware creates another route for abuse. Once installed on a device, it can let someone monitor web searches, location data, text messages, photos, voice calls and other private activity without the user knowing.

Kaspersky’s threat data shows more than 34,000 users affected by stalkerware in 2024 and 2025. Over the past five years, the company has detected more than 127,000 affected users worldwide.

The tools continue to evolve. Kaspersky identifies 33 previously unseen stalkerware families during 2024 and 2025, with affected users detected in more than 160 countries. Russia, Brazil and India rank among the three most affected countries in 2025.

Stalkerware can stay hidden

Tatyana Shishkova, lead security researcher, acting head of research center Americas & Europe at Kaspersky’s Global Research and Analysis Team, said: “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 actio” 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.”

Kaspersky advises users who suspect stalkerware not to remove it immediately, as this may alert the perpetrator and increase the risk of harm. Instead, it recommends using a trusted device to contact support services and seeking guidance from a domestic violence or stalkerware support organisation.

Possible warning signs include unusually fast battery drain, unexplained data usage, unfamiliar apps or settings that allow apps from unknown sources.

Checking tech-enabled abuse

The abuse findings also carry relevance for banks, fintechs and payment providers because financial services now rely heavily on mobile devices for account access, identity checks, transaction approvals and customer alerts.

If someone monitors a device, they may also see banking notifications, one-time passcodes, account recovery messages or attempts to change passwords and contact details. In cases involving coercive control, stalking or domestic abuse, the usual assumption that a customer’s phone is private may not hold.

Financial firms cannot identify every case of tech-enabled abuse. However, the research adds context to wider discussions around vulnerable customers, fraud prevention, notification design and safe account recovery.

That may include how alerts appear on shared devices, how customers can safely update contact details, and how support teams respond when someone says their phone or account may be monitored.

Kaspersky co-founded the Coalition Against Stalkerware, an international group of IT companies, NGOs, research institutions and law enforcement agencies working to combat cyberstalking and support victims of online abuse.

The company is also taking part in an international Tech Abuse Conference hosted by UCL in London from 19 to 21 May 2026, including an anti-stalkerware workshop on identifying spyware and monitoring tools on real devices.