“OPSWAT’s quarterly market share report reveals alarming statistics about antivirus usage and device state: Many users are not protected and 3 percent show signs of infection.”

OPSWAT today announced the release of their latest market share report, which includes detailed analysis of the market share of antivirus vendors and products. The report also takes a look at the use of real time protection (RTP) by users of top antivirus products and the number of devices with persisting threats or potentially unwanted applications (PUAs).

The report includes extensive data on the market share of various antivirus vendors. Market share for the top five antivirus vendors with RTP enabled were as follows:

Avast – 21.4 percent

Microsoft – 19.4 percent

AVG – 8.6 percent

Avira – 7.4 percent

Symantec – 7.1 percent

Among specific antivirus products, Microsoft Security Essentials had the highest market share, closely followed by avast! Free Antivirus and Avira Free Antivirus. While the overwhelming majority of devices surveyed had at least one antivirus engine installed, only 8.7 percent had run a full system scan in the last 7 days, meaning over 90 percent of devices had not run a full scan in that period, putting them at risk for infection and in possible violation of data security regulations. With new threats introduced on a daily basis, it is important for devices to run frequent system scans to prevent security breaches and the potential loss of valuable data. The findings also unveiled information on devices with persisting threats or potentially unwanted applications. A persisting threat occurs when files are repeatedly detected by the antivirus engine and continue after efforts have been made to remove or remediate the threat. Of devices surveyed, 0.7 percent were found to have persisting threats, and 3.3 percent were found to have threats or PUA’s.

These statistics could have alarming real-world consequences for both individuals and businesses. According to Adam Winn, Product Manager for OPSWAT GEARS, “Installing an antivirus product is the first, not last, step to having a safe and secure computer. According to our data, nine out of ten users haven’t scanned their system in the last week, and another 15 percent of devices are using outdated antivirus signatures. These stats, combined with the low usage of real-time protection means there’s an alarming number of unprotected computers. Over three percent of devices show some sign of infection, so it’s reasonable to assume in an organization with 400 PCs, a full dozen are compromised!”