Your Windows 7 PC is more likely to have malware than your XP one, says Microsoft

The newly published Microsoft Security Intelligence Report (SIR) is a hefty 152 page read, which will probably keep many IT sysadmins occupied for a while.
It’s a good excuse to put your feet up, lean back in your swivel chair and read Microsoft’s pontifications on exploits, vulnerabilities, malware and other threats that might keep you and your company awake at night.
In fairness to Microsoft, they have one big advantage over many of the other vendors who produce security threat reports. After all, Microsoft’s software is – by its very nature – running on every single Windows computer, giving the firm an opportunity to gather data on what’s really happening out there.
Here is one of the highlights from Microsoft’s report that was pointed out to me by industry veteran Righard Zwienenberg.
http://cdn.grahamcluley.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/infection-rate.jpgInfection rate (CCM) by operating system and service pack in 3Q13 and 4Q13.
Source: Microsoft SIR 16.
 
Yes, in the last quarter of 2013, Microsoft says that Windows 7 computers were more likely to be infected by malware than PCs running Windows XP. An infection rate of 25.9% for Windows 7 compared to 24.2% for XP.
Windows Vista isn’t looking too healthy either.
And before you think that the stats are telling a skewed story because of the different number of users of the different operating systems, these numbers have been normalised by Microsoft.
 
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