In 2022, the virus total service has shown that more than 90 percent of the malware targets Windows. Virus total receives over two million suspicious files per day from 232 countries, placing it in a strong position to analyze the problem. After Windows devices, the next most targeted devices are Linux and Android.
The majority of the IT population mostly uses Windows as OS on Desktops and Laptops. This might also be a reason for the Malware threats in Windows OS.
Windows is a prominent OS and it is where the money flow is, so that creates a major reason for the attackers to target on Windows OS because the significant market dominance, availability, target value, and the challenge of protecting outdated code in Microsoft’s operating system. However, when Microsoft attempted to develop more restricted variants of Windows, such as Windows RT and Windows S, it faced criticism from consumers who couldn’t operate the necessary apps. New operating systems were created with security in mind by Apple with iOS and Google with Chrome OS.
Although hacking strategies haven’t altered much, more hackers now employ built-in commands for nefarious ends, by taking advantage of any security flaws in the systems. Living-off-the-land attacks are this kind of assault. For instance, a routine global update enabled the SolarWinds software supply-chain attack. The Log4j flaw was similar in that it gave hackers remote code execution access to prey on selected devices.
The majority of network appliances run Linux, but there are other attack avenues as well, such as phishing or exploiting flaws and vulnerabilities in them.
Attackers continue to develop new malware threats despite the many anti-malware solutions that are already in place. In the first three quarters of 2022, there were 62.29 million new malware samples discovered across all operating systems. Nearly 228,164 malware attacks are made each day in e-industry. The 93.28 per cent of ransomware detected were Windows executables and 2 percent were Windows DLLs.
Prevention :
- Routinely backup your data so that, in the event that you contract by a malware threat, you may wipe your system clean and retrieve your data without having to pay the demanded ransom.
- Avoid downloading software or applications from unapproved websites and third-party sources since they can already be compromised with malware.
- Update your software to solve any potential vulnerabilities.
- Protect your devices by using trustworthy and reliable antivirus software.
References :
https://atlasvpn.com/blog/over-95-of-all-new-malware-threats-discovered-in-2022-are-aimed-at-windows
https://www.theregister.com/2021/10/14/googles_virustotal_malware/
https://cybernews.com/news/call-me-back-manipulative-attackers-leverage-windows-10-to-push-malware/
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