Over 100 million “pieces of malware” built for Windows in 2021 have been produced for Windows devices this year, according to a new analysis by security software company Atlas VPN.
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The report also shows that the number of malware for devices running Windows operating systems has grown exponentially since 2012, with millions of new threats emerging every year.
Findings like these are a grim reminder that the malware problem will only get worse, putting even more of a burden on individuals and businesses to deploy antivirus software on internet-connected devices.
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Atlas VPN has identified 107.28 million new threats designed for Windows devices, 16.53 million more than recorded in 2020.
The data used in the Atlas VPN analysis was collected by the independent research institute AV-TEST GmBH, which evaluates antivirus software. One of the most alarming statistics that emerges from the data is that, on average, the number of new malware for the Windows operating system has increased by 9.5 million since 2012, which equates to a 23% increase year-on-year:
In an attempt to explain the increase, Atlas VPN highlights the fact that hackers can now buy ransomware and malware, which means that much less programming knowledge is required to launch a cyberattack. It's also much cheaper to hire a hacker to do the job for you.
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Why do Windows devices get more viruses than Mac and Linux?
Windows is still the most popular operating system used on desktop PCs by some measure, and there are also thousands of Windows phones still in use. This makes it the biggest attack surface, so it's largely a matter of supply and demand - and there are just too many Windows devices out there.
But there's another explanation – Windows was never really designed with security in mind.
Information source: tech.co
