Having a virus on your laptop or PC is always a headache to deal with, and while some viruses may be easy to find and remove, others can be deadly and might spell the end of your PC. Taking a few extra steps to ensure that your PC is secure should be the first priority of any PC user, regardless of what operating system you use.
While Windows devices are more prone to malware statistically, it does not mean that it is a worse operating system than Mac or Linux, but there are a few major reasons why you might hear more about viruses on Windows 11 than on other operating systems.
3 User knowledge and behavior
Educated users are more protected
Source: Mockup Photos
Most malware nowadays is spread through social engineering. This essentially means that hackers are looking for users who are not knowledgeable about how computers work. And unfortunately, that encompasses a large majority of Windows users. This does not indicate that Windows users are not as tech-savvy as Mac or Linux users; there are just way more Windows users out there.
After all, if your child or grandparent needs a new laptop, you're probably not going to get them a Linux machine, and unless they are already an Apple user, you probably won't buy them a Mac either. The majority of people who buy Apple products are essentially paying for the privilege of not having to deal with tech problems on their devices. This is because Apple takes responsibility for keeping its devices safe very seriously and has a more closed ecosystem.
Linux users are on Linux for a reason. They are generally pretty tech-savvy and will not fall for the easy-to-see malware traps that other, less knowledgeable users would. Using Linux does not mean you can't get viruses, it just means you probably know enough about tech to not fall for the most basic scams that infect your machine.
The majority of people on the planet use Windows, meaning that, regardless of age or tech expertise, users encounter significantly more malware, but only a certain percentage know how to keep their devices safe.
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2 Software architecture
Administrator access is important
Windows handles its administrator permissions differently from Mac and Linux, and not for the better. While Windows requires administrator rights to run specific tasks and will ask you for permission to run unknown applications, many programs run with administrator access out of the box. This is different for Unix-based operating systems like Mac or Linux that often require account permission every time, have verification checks in place, or programs that run in a sandbox.
Apple has two main features that help protect against malicious software on your machine. The first is digitally signed signatures on all applications. When you start a program, it will verify that it only contains the right type of data for which the software developer has signed. This stops hackers from injecting viruses into applications without you knowing.
The other feature is present in both Mac and Linux, which is sandbox mode. When you use an application on Windows that you have provided administrator access to, that app can communicate and make changes to other applications or settings outside the application. This is not the case on Linux or macOS, as these operating systems use a sandbox mode for their applications, which means they cannot access or change things outside the sandbox. In this case, if malware is hiding in a program, it can't access the rest of your system.
Microsoft has tried to combat this by adding UAC user controls and an external sandbox mode in which you can run applications if you choose to. Unfortunately, these solutions are still not perfect, and many viruses can still slip through the cracks. On top of this, many Windows 11 security features like application sandboxing, BitLocker, and application guard are locked behind the Pro and Enterprise editions of the OS instead of the Home edition, which most computers come pre-installed with.
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1 Market share
It's a numbers game
Windows is the most popular operating system on the planet, with over a billion users (approximately 1.6 billion devices in 2024). This makes it a more lucrative platform for people who create malware to infect devices. With Windows currently dominating the operating system space, controlling over 70% of the entire market, it is easier than ever for people to create malware and plant it on millions of computers with relative ease.
Macs only account for around 15% of all devices, which is still quite a lot of devices for potential hackers to exploit. Still, Apple has better security protocols, more regular updates, and fewer third-party or legacy applications for hackers to take advantage of.
Linux only owns about 5% of the market in terms of devices, but users who run Linux are usually more tech-savvy than traditional PC users. On top of this, the 5% of users who run Linux on their PC could be using one of 1000 different distros, which makes it almost impossible for hackers to create a piece of malware that works on all of them.
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Nothing is ever truly secure
While Windows-based computers are capable of attracting much more viruses than Mac or Linux, this doesn't mean that you personally will get more viruses on your Windows device. Getting malware on your device is more linked to how you use your device and how much you know about computers in general.
No operating system available today can promise you a malware-free environment. But there are ways to stay more secure on your PC by just learning a bit about computer security so that you don't fall victim to hackers.