Windows operating system is undoubtedly one of the most used operating systems across the world. Web analytics firm Statcounter notes that Windows has almost 77% market share as a desktop operating system. This makes Windows an easy target for malicious ad campaigns.
According to a recent report from cyber-security firm Devcon, 61% of malicious ad campaigns observed from July 11 to November 22 this year were targeted at Windows users. If you’re wondering what a malicious ad campaign is, those are online advertisements designed to manipulate the user to download malicious software. I’m sure a lot of you might have come across several such websites offering something that sounds too good to be true.
Google’s ChromeOS comes next on the list with 22.5% malicious target ads. It is followed by macOS with almost half target ads at 10.5%. This trend hints that Chrome OS is more vulnerable to malware attack attempts when it is put side by side with macOS.
iOS and Android secure their positions next with 3.2% and 2.1% malicious ads respectively. The new entrant Apple’s iPadOS has 0.8% malware stuffed ads.
With all that said, let’s take a look at the operating system with the least malicious ad campaigns. Yes, you guessed that right. It’s none other than Linux. The operating system has a mere 0.3% of malicious targeted ads. Impressed, aren’t you?
You don’t have to panic as a Windows user after looking at these statistics. As long as you don’t fall victim to malicious practices found on the internet, you’re probably safe.
Cybersecurity experts at Devcon suggest using updated antivirus software, cleaning browser cache time to time, using security-focused browsers, avoiding the practice of saving passwords in web browsers, and using a password manager instead.
