1 in 14 downloads is malicious

According to Microsoft, 1 in 14 downloads is malicious. That number isn't too big of a surprise for anyone already dealing with web security. With the prevalence of fake A/V and fake codec malware out of the web, it's not surprising users are getting prompted to download malware more and more often.

In today's world, hackers find it easier to trick end-users into downloading malware, rather than finding holes in browsers or hacking into websites. While the evolution of browsers has led to many newer browsers being able to detect and warn end-users about threats like these, they don't always catch these threats, and of course it's unlikely end-users are running the latest browsers with the latest safeguards.

That's why it's still important to have an extra layer of security in place like a web proxy, or secure web gateway. News articles on the prevalence of malicious downloads, are just a good reminder we need this extra layer of security, and to make sure this extra layer of security is doing in-depth analysis and scanning of downloads to make sure they are malware-free.