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Cyber criminals developed over 100 million malwares to attack Windows devices in 2021: Report

The wide availability of hackers-for-hire was given as a reason for the increased attack, stating that hackers were now ridiculously cheap to hire.

• November 24, 2021
A hacker on a computer used to illustrate the story.
A hacker on a computer used to illustrate the story.

A new report has revealed that cyber criminals developed 107.28 million unique malware threats targeted at Windows devices in 2021.

“2021 marks a record year for the development of new Windows malware. Even though 2021 has another month to go, cyber criminals have already developed a whopping 107.28 million unique threats targeted at Windows devices,” report by Atlas VPN read.

Atlas VPN, a cyber security firm, said the 107.28 million malware developed in 2021 was 16.53 million more than threats targeted at window devices in 2020.

The report detailed that cyber criminals developed around 328 thousand malware samples against window devices daily in 2021.

Despite being faced with the challenge of cracking built-in or third-party security systems, like firewalls, antiviruses, and other threat protection software, the report revealed that hackers are relentlessly creating new types of viruses to beat security measures.

Giving reason for the increased creation of malware against window devices, the report explained that malicious software is easier to develop than ever before.

It said that hackers no longer require advanced programming abilities as they could purchase ready-made malware code, customise it to their needs with a little coding, and create an entirely new malware type.

It also cited the wide availability of hackers-for-hire made as another reason for the increased attack, stating that hackers were now ridiculously cheap to hire.

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