Global market share held by Windows anti-malware vendors 2020

Symantec Corporation held 13.16 percent of the Windows anti-malware application market in May 2020, more than any other vendor. AVAST Software A.S. were not far behind during the month, claiming 12.69 percent of the market. Symantec sold its Enterprise Security software division to Broadcom in 2019 and renamed the remaining business to NortonLifeLock.

Beware the Trojan horse

Malware is software designed to maliciously interfere with the regular operation of computers or mobiles. This includes the destruction or gathering of data, presenting unwanted advertising, or rendering a device vulnerable to external control. There were 9.9 billion malware attacks in 2019 alone, up from 8.2 billion in 2015.
Trojan horses are the most common methods of infection, in which a user is tricked into downloading malware, disguised as a legitimate product.

Malware targeting Windows

While all users of devices connected to the internet are vulnerable to malware infections, certain systems are more vulnerable. Malware developers target windows-based systems more than any other, with 83.45 percent of newly detected malware programs in the first quarter of 2020 targeting machines running Windows. This is not to say that users of MacOS are immune, with malware such as Flashback, Macontrol, and Shlayer all designed to infect systems running MacOS.