Mac Malware Showing Increasing Trend Since 2017

Most malware, as we know, target Windows systems; the reasons are obvious. The major reason, however, is that Windows is the most popularly used OS all over the world.

The other operating systems too have their own share of malware and malware strikes that come seeking them. MacOS, which was earlier thought of as almost 10 percent safe, now gets attacked by malware as well. In fact, as per recent statistics, the malware that aims attacks on Macs now represent an expanding sphere; the trend is on the rise since 2017, as per experts.

Experts today are coming up with automatic malware analyzing tools for MacOS, which would help them spot and examine most Mac malware. This is in contrast to the manual examinations that were earlier done, as regards Mac malware. This is the need of the hour; we today have lots of Mac malware targeting Mac systems and devices and manual examinations wouldn’t work out.

Security firms had detected and analyzed many MacOS malware in 2017. One of the notable Mac malware detected during 2017 was Fruitfly; leading security company Malwarebytes had discovered the malware, which along with its different versions, would sneak into Mac devices and computers, and get away with all kinds of data. 2017 saw many other kinds of Mac malware too and ever since 2018 started, reports about new Mac malware too have been coming in.

Mac users, many of them, still continue to consider Mac as an extremely secure OS, oblivious of the many malware that have been infiltrating the operating system on late. This encourages cyber criminals to try attacks using new malware strains, banking on the ignorance of Mac end-users and the indifference they show as regards securing their systems/devices. Added to this is the fact that in Mac there’s nothing like Windows Defender AV to ward off malicious elements.

Experts who had been researching on Mac malware have found that there are numerous strains that wouldn’t get spotted using manual tools. They also found, after analyzing Mac malware in 2017, that almost 50 percent of them were backdoor Trojans. Most of the malware were of the adware kind.

Today, there are many advanced Mac antivirus programs that protect Mac systems/devices using advanced technology, including containment technology. Such advanced software would filter malicious and suspicious-looking software into a sandbox, wherein they would be analyzed and further action is taken based on that analysis. Hence, though Mac Malware is showing an increasing trend, cyber security guys are armed with advanced technology to combat them and protect your Mac.