Systematic Literature Review on Innovative Techniques for Malware Prevention in Superapps: A Focus on Miniapp Threats

Abstract

The growth of mobile applications has led to superapps, platforms where small applications known as miniapps provide various services to users. Despite the popularity of these applications, they are also becoming a target for cybercriminals. Consequently, this review sought to answer the following: i) What type of malware represents the greatest threat to superapps? ii) What security tools and techniques are implemented in superapps to prevent or mitigate malware? iii) How do superapps get infected with malware, and what are the most common methods used by attackers? iv) How is research related to this topic being addressed? A total of 467 potential studies were identified. By applying inclusion and extraction criteria validated with Fleiss’ Kappa, 23 papers were selected for the review. The results provide a comprehensive view of the main types of malware affecting superapps, their impact, and the methodologies used to identify threats. These findings can help improve the security of superapps and serve as a foundation for future research to analyze vulnerabilities within them.