Malware is everywhere, but computers that run Windows—the world's most popular operating system—are especially prone to attacks. According to AV Test's 2019/2020 Security Report, 114 million new pieces of malicious programs were developed in 2019, and 78.64 percent of all attacks were distributed on Windows systems.
Those numbers are expected to rise in 2020, with 160 million new programs by the end of the year. One reason for this increase is the COVID-19 pandemic; many hackers are taking advantage of the uncertainty to spread malware and increase phishing attacks. As a result, the percentage of malware targeting Windows computers has risen to 83.45 percent in the first quarter of 2020.
Windows such a common target not only because it's the most common operating system in the world with the most targets available: It's also prone to security issues. According to the CVE database, which tracks known system vulnerabilities, Microsoft had more than 660 dangerous security gaps, and 357 of them were attributed to Windows 10.
In addition to backdoors found in the operating system, Windows users also have to contend with trojans (64.31 percent of all malware), viruses (15.52 percent), worms (7.79 percent), and other forms of malware. Users can also be at risk because of security vulnerabilities in the applications they use or through attacks on connected devices.
As a result, Windows 10 is considered the least secure operating system. Since around 51 percent of the world's computers are loaded with Windows 10, that means cybercriminals are able to take advantage of a highly vulnerable system that is widely distributed.
On the other side of this discussion is every other malware distribution platform. Web browsers accounted for 15.84 percent of all malware, which dropped to 11.09 percent in Q1 2020. Android only made up 2.75 percent in 2019 but has increased to 3.24 percent this year. All other systems, including iOS, macOS, and Linux, accounted for just 2.35 percent last year; that number has since dropped to 1.91 percent in the beginning of 2020.
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