Forget about 2023 becoming “The Year of the Linux Desktop,” a popular slogan about growing Linux OS usage. It is already becoming the year of the Linux malware takeover.
In the eyes of cybercriminals, Linux is now a more appealing target due to the computing platform’s potentially high return on their “investment.” Prevailing security countermeasures predominantly cater to Windows-based threats, often leaving Linux, particularly in private cloud deployments, perilously vulnerable to a barrage of ransomware assaults.
This tide of increasing malware attacks against Linux systems is turning for the worse. Linux has a reputation for being among the most secure operating systems available. However, that does not make it immune to user stupidity and enterprise malfeasance.
A report published in January by Atlas VPN showed that new Linux malware threats hit record numbers in 2022. The then-50% increase raised the attack level to 1.9 million infections. More recent malware attack monitoring shows that the situation continues to get worse.
Linux malware has become increasingly prevalent as more devices and servers run on the Linux operating system. The same security risks that impact Microsoft Windows and macOS are now bearing down on Linux systems. Even the made-from-Linux ChromeOS that powers Chromebooks used in schools and enterprises worldwide has no built-in immunity to browser- and e-mail-based infiltration.
