Page 1461 - (ISC)² CISSP Certified Information Systems Security Professional Official Study Guide

malware in existence targets the Windows platform. This is a
significant change from past years, where more than 95 percent of

malware targeted Windows systems; it reflects a change in malware
development that has begun to target mobile devices and other
platforms.

Significantly, in 2016, the amount of malware targeting Mac systems
tripled, while the number of malware variants targeting Android
devices doubled that same year. The bottom line is that users of all

operating systems should be aware of the malware threat and ensure
that they have adequate protections in place.

Antivirus Mechanisms

Almost every desktop computer in service today runs some sort of
antivirus software package. Popular desktop titles include Microsoft
Security Essentials, McAfee AntiVirus, Avast Antivirus, Trend Micro
Antivirus, ESET NOD32 Antivirus, Sophos Antivirus, and Symantec
Norton AntiVirus, but a plethora of other products on the market offer

protection for anything from a single system to an entire enterprise;
other packages are designed to protect against specific common types
of virus invasion vectors, such as inbound email.

The Kaspersky Controversy

Kaspersky Lab is a well-known Russian manufacturer of

cybersecurity software founded by the colorful character Eugene
Kaspersky.

In 2017, the company ranked as the fourth-largest producer of
security software when it was consumed by a controversy
surrounding the organization’s possible affiliation with the Russian
government. Although these allegations swirled around the
internet for years, they reached a head in July 2017 when the

United States (U.S.) General Services Administration, responsible
for government-wide purchasing, removed Kaspersky from the list
of vendors authorized to do business with the federal government.
This was quickly followed by a flurry of announcements that
agencies were purging Kaspersky software from their systems.