“20 times more threats than in 2020” under Linux: Kaspersky screams danger… and releases its antivirus

The Moscow company Kaspersky now offers its flagship antivirus solution to individuals who run Linuxan operating system long considered a sanctuary from computer attacks. To justify this commercial offensive, the publisher brandishes a striking figure: malicious programs targeting Linux have increased 20-fold over the last five years. Really ?

Kaspersky launches an antivirus for Linux: explosion of threats or controlled marketing?

The observation is not entirely fanciful. Elastic Security reports that Linux represented in 2023 some 54% of all malicious infections, ahead of Windows and its 39%. PhoenixNAP mentions, in the same paper, a 659% explosion of Linux malware between 2021 and 2022. But these impressive statistics hide a crucial point: they overwhelmingly concern server infrastructure and cloud computing, not home workstations.

Trend Micro also specifies that “90% of public cloud workloads run on Linux”which explains the growing interest of attackers. Webshells, these backdoors installed on web servers, represent almost half of the exploits recorded. WordPress tops the list of compromised applications. So many threats are aimed at professional targets, not the amateur who checks his emails on Ubuntu.

Kaspersky cites the case of the backdoor in the XZ utility discovered in March 2024 to support its point. This sophisticated infiltration attempt, the result of a three-year campaign led by a malicious contributor, could indeed have become catastrophic. Except that it was precisely community vigilance, not antivirus software, which thwarted the attack before it spread to stable versions of the distributions.

The entry-level plan starts at $38.99 annually. It remains to be determined whether this additional protection is relevant for those who keep their systems up to date and exercise discernment when faced with suspicious emails. The answer probably remains negative for the majority.