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Over 95% of all new malware threats discovered in 2022 are aimed at Windows
December 2022 by Marc Jacob Atlas VPN
Windows is the most popular operating system among desktop and laptop users. It occupies around 30% of the OS market share worldwide. This may be one of the reasons why it is also the most targeted by malware.
According to the data analyzed by the Atlas VPN team, based on AV-TEST GmbH statistics, 59.58 million new Windows malware samples were detected in the first three quarters of 2022. They make up a whopping 95.6% of all new malware discovered in that period.
Linux malware takes the second spot on the list with 1.76 million new malware samples — 2.8% of the total new malware threats in Q1 through Q3 of 2022.
Following Linux is Android malware. The first three quarters of 2022 saw 938,379 newly found Android malware threats. They constitute 1.5% of the new malware in Q1 through Q3 of 2022.
Finally, 8,329 never before seen malware threats aimed at macOS were detected in the same period.
Despite various anti-malware measures that exist today, cybercriminals continuously come up with new malware threats. A total of 62.29 million new malware samples were detected in the first three quarters of 2022 across all operating systems. It comes to almost 228,164 malware threats daily.
However, compared to the same period last year, new malware has actually decreased by 34%. Even though there is a clear downward trend in new malware samples, the number of threats still remains exceptionally high.
