AV-Test offers an interesting aggregation of 2016/2017 malware statistics in its Security Report here. Its observations may be of particular interest to readers of this blog (how are you both?) since they’re based on AV-Test’s sample collection.
The report points out that:
There is no indication based on proliferation statistics that 2016 was also the “year of ransomware“. Comprising not even 1% of the overall share of malware for Windows, the blackmail Trojans appear to be more of a marginal phenomenon.
But as John Leyden remarks for The Register:
The mode of action and damage created by file-encrypting trojans makes them a much greater threat than implied by a consideration of the numbers…
Looking at the growth in malware for specific platforms, AV-Test notes a decrease in numbers for malware attacking Windows users. (Security vendors needn’t worry: there’s still plenty to go round…)
On the other hand, the report says of macOS malware that ‘With an increase rate of over 370% compared to the previous year, it is no exaggeration to speak of explosive growth.’ Of Android, it says that ‘the number of new threats … has doubled compared to the previous year.’
Of course, there’s much more in this 24-page report. To give you some idea of what, here’s the ToC:
- The AV-TEST Security Report 2
- WINDOWS Security Status 5
- macOS Security Status 10
- ANDROID Security Status 13
- INTERNET THREATS Security Status 16
- IoT Security Status 19
- Test Statistics 22
David Harley
Anti-Malware Testing 
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