Antivirus Statistics, Facts and Insights That You Must Know

The technological world continues to advance with the introduction of different technological products. These tech products have found their usefulness in the IT and computing sector.

Of all the tech inventions that are widely embraced by the world's inhabitants, the smartphone and PC are top-ranked among them. These two excellent inventions are widely used throughout the continents of the world largely because of their diverse applications. With the use of computers, you can perform a huge variety of applications in the computing world. A computer is used in programming, performing huge simulation tasks, gaming, calculations, and many more. Also, smartphones are widely used in making calls, sending and receiving messages, getting the weather forecast, surfing the web, and many more. Despite the wide application of computers and smartphones in the IT and computing world, the users of these devices encounter some serious challenges. One of the challenges that come with the use of computers and smartphones is the invasion of devices with viruses or malware. This virus or malware does not enter the PC or smartphone by accident. It enters the device through file transfer from an infected device or while surfing the internet. Nowadays, many viruses infect devices. Hence, there is a need to get an efficient antivirus to clear out all viruses in your device. To this effect, tech geeks constantly update their knowledge on the launching of new antivirus software to cater to the antivirus needs of all computer and smartphone users. As of today, Antivirus is an important invention that has some exciting statistics, insights, and facts that are not known to its users. Therefore, you need to have a vivid knowledge of some useful insights, statistics, and facts about antivirus. With that said, today, I will be telling you the facts, statistics, and insights you should know about antivirus.

Exciting Facts, Statistics, and Insights About Antivirus

All advancements in technology come with their respective risk factors. For computers and smartphones, their risk factors are malware or virus. Virus or malware is a malicious program developed by tech experts to prevent normal functioning or cause damages to a computer or smartphone. If your computer or smartphone is infected with malware or virus, the antivirus will come to your rescue to prevent damages to your device and files. To protect your device against malware or virus, you need to install an efficient antivirus program into it. With this, your device will be safe and secure from virus or malware attacks. Nowadays, there is hardly any smartphone or computer that has no active antivirus program installed on it. Hence, it is essential to know important details, statistics, and facts about the user computer and smartphone program. The information that will be given in this content will cater to relevant details about how well you need the tool, why you must rely on its protections, and how fast the antivirus market is growing.

The Facts You Should Know About the Origin, Design, and Development of Antivirus

• In 1971, the IT world was greeted with the creation of the first virus. The virus was named as Creeper Virus. When it was created, it spread via the first digital networking communication channel called ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network).
• When the Creeper Virus infects your computer, the infected computer displays an inscription which reads "I am the creeper, catches me if you can."

• The great tech expert Ray Tomlinson created a program that defeated the Creeper Virus. He called the program "The Reaper."

• The Reaper antivirus was the first-ever genuine antivirus that was created and introduced into the tech world.
• In 1983, an American computer scientist called Frederick B. Cohen derived the term "Virus."

• Two years after the name Virus was derived, the first official antivirus was developed. The software was named "Self-Reproduction Software."
• In 1987, Kai Figge and Andreas Luning created the first antivirus software. The two German tech experts also created the G Data Software.

• In 1981, Elk Cloner was created by Richard Skrenta. Elk Cloner was created for the Apple II systems. The Elk Cloner infected the Apple DOS 3.3. It then spread across the floppy disk transfer of the system. Elk Cloner was the first virus to have caused a huge outbreak in the history of the computing world.

• In 1986, the first IBMC computer virus was created by the Farooq Alvi Brothers in Lahore, Pakistan. They came together to develop the virus to prevent an unauthorized sharing of their software.

• In 1987, Bernd Fix demonstrated the first document removal of the Vienna virus. This computer virus was referred to as "in the wild."

• In 2000, Howard Fuhs and Rainer Link started an OpenAntivirus project. The project was the first open-source antivirus engine worldwide.

Antivirus Facts and Statistics About Usage and Users

Antivirus is useful to all PC and smartphone users. In this section, I will discuss the facts and statistics you should know about its usage and users.

• Currently, there are more than 900 million active users of antivirus all over the world.
• One in five internet users has encountered the challenges of a virus attack at a point.
• About 89% of desktop computer users are active users of antivirus software.
• About 80% of laptop users have an active antivirus program installed on their PC.

• About 350,000 viruses are detected on laptop and desktop computers every day.
• About 10.52 billion malware attacks were recorded in 2018, making it the largest malware attack recorded in a single year.
• The most common malware found on the vast majority of laptops and desktop computers is Trojans.
• About 0.3% of internet attacks use ransomware as its major form of attack.

• The most famous free antivirus is BitDefender, followed by Avast and AVG. Other popular antivirus programs used by laptop and desktop owners include Kaspersky, McAfee, and ZoneAlarm. These antivirus programs have considerably high virus detection statistics.

• About 4% of PC users that use Windows Defender detect malware on their devices every month.

• About 50% of Windows 7 PC users do not have an efficient antivirus tool.
• Currently, over one billion pieces of malware are circulated on the internet.

Mobile Antivirus Facts and Stats

• In 2018, mobile devices were directly attacked with about 116.5 million pieces of malware when compared with 66.4 million attacks that were recorded in 2017.
• About 49% of smartphone users have installed an antivirus app.
• More than 50% of tablet users installed an antivirus app.

• In 2013, the number of antivirus apps installed on mobile devices was 325 million. Currently, the figure has increased to 1.5 billion worldwide.
• The most common virus that attacks mobile devices is RiskTool. It has infected more than 54% of all mobile device users.

• Trojan-Dropper is the second most common virus that attacks mobile devices. It infected about 17.21% of mobile devices.
• AdWare is the third most popular virus that infects mobile devices. It attacks about 8.4% of mobile devices.
• Kaspersky protected the vast majority of mobile device users from threats in 2018. Efficient antivirus provides maximum protection to more than 10 million users worldwide.
• More than 3.6 million virus infections were recorded by mobile device users in 2016.
• About 50% of Android antivirus tools do not work.

Demographic Antivirus Insights and Statistics

• Male users of laptops and desktop computers are more security conscious than their female counterparts. About 60% of male use antivirus when surfing the internet while about 45% of female internet users have it installed on their device.
• Young people are the highest population of people that installed antivirus programs on their devices. Their average age is between 16 to 35 years old.
• China is a country that has the highest number of infected computers worldwide. The country records about 47% of computers that are infected with malware.
• Turkey, Taiwan, and Russia are the countries that have considerably high infection rates with 43%, 39%, and 36% respectively.

• The country with the least number of infection rates worldwide is Sweden. The country has about 20% infected computers.
• Pakistan has the highest population of infected mobile devices worldwide. About 38% of mobile devices are attacked by malware.
• Iran is the country with the second most infected cell phones worldwide. The country has a 38% infection rate.
• The United States has the highest number of antivirus users worldwide.
• The daily statistics of mobile devices attacked by a virus in the United States stands at 52%.

Financial Statistics, Insights, and Facts

• Globally, the antivirus software market is worth $38 billion. It is expected to soar to about $43 billion by 2024.
• The global antivirus market increased by 48% between 2018 and 2020.
• ESET holds the largest market share with 12.89% followed by McAfee at 11.9%, and Symantec corporation at 10.27%.

• The cost of antivirus software is estimated at an average of $30, while complete PC security comes at an average price of $80.
• In 2000, a popular virus called "ILOVEYOU" caused damage worth $10 billion. This virus infected more than 10% of attacks experienced by internet users.

Summary

The table below summarizes the best cybersecurity stocks.

Wrap Up

Antivirus has proven to be a useful program for all PC and smartphone users. Today, I have discussed the essential stats, facts, and insights you should know about antivirus. Happy reading!