Surfshark finds Windows PCs face 6x greater malware risk than Macs

Doing some quick math, that means Windows PCs have a threat-detection rate of almost six times higher than Macs.

Trojans pose the greatest threat to Windows users. Surfshark identified over 166,000 Trojan attacks on Windows computers, compared with just over 7,600 on macOS. For viruses, the comparative figures are just over 32,000 on Windows and around 2,900 on macOS.

As for riskware, Surfshark reports around 67,500 detections on Windows and 5,400 on macOS. Riskware refers to programs that are generally legitimate but which, due to their functionality, may pose a security risk. Examples include remote maintenance tools, data extraction tools, password managers, or server services.

However, macOS users shouldn’t be lulled into a false sense of security, as Surfshark warns:

Mac users still assume that their device is inherently more secure, which can make them far more vulnerable to social engineering tactics such as phishing than to conventional malware.

While phishing is the third-biggest threat to macOS users, according to Surfshark, it plays only a minor role for Windows users.