Cybercriminals release hundreds of thousands of new malware strains every day, a large proportion of which exclusively target Windows users, according to a new report.
The Atlas VPN researchers, using statistics published by AV-TEST GmbH, concluded that in the first three quarters of 2022, there were a total of 62,29 million new detections of malware samples, or approximately 228 new variants each day.
Of these, 59,58 million new malware samples were designed to attack the Windows operating system, or 95,6%. Linux malware ranked second (1,76 million samples/2,8%), while the top three ended with Android.
Most popular operating system
According to Atlas VPN, the mobile operating system saw 938 new threats between Q379 and Q2022 1,5, or 8329%, and for macOS, the researchers found XNUMX never-before-seen variants.
According to researchers, the main reason cybercriminals target Windows so much is its popularity. Microsoft's operating system is by far the most dominant desktop product, with around 30% of the global market share. According to Statcounter's global statistics, Android has a market share of 43,47%, iOS 17,25% and Linux 1,08%.
Despite the dire statistics, the picture is not as bleak as it seems. The researchers say that compared to the same period last year, the number of new malware strains has actually dropped significantly, by more than a third (34%).
Of all the different variants, ransomware remains the most destructive and therefore the most popular. Other popular variants include information stealers (capable of stealing stored passwords, credit card information, keystrokes, and screenshots), cryptocurrency miners (also known as cryptojackers), and bots (using compromised endpoints to launch distributed attacks). of denial of service, which could be sold as a service). ).