Malware targeting Apple Mac operating systems more than doubled from 2016 to 2017, according to cybersecurity and anti-malware software provider Malwarebytes.
In addition, Malwarebytes found that Mac malware threats increased more than 270 percent last year.
Malwarebytes Discovers Four Mac Malware Threats
Malwarebytes discovered the following Mac malware threats in the first two months of 2018:
- OSX.MaMi: This malware changes a Mac user's system settings and ensures that they remained changed, and it installs a new trusted root certificate in a user's keychain.
- Dark Caracal: This malware provides basic remote backdoor access to infected Mac systems. Dark Caracal is currently available in version 0.1, which indicates that it likely is in an early development stage.
- OSX.CreativeUpdate: This malware has been shown to hack the MacUpdate website, download links for popular Mac apps and replace them with malicious links. As a result, Mac users who download infected apps from MacUpdate are forced to install malware onto their systems.
- OSX.Coldroot: This malware provides backdoor access to a Mac user's system. Some aspects of the malware's installation have failed on modern systems, and malware installation may fail entirely on advanced systems as well.
Also, adware and potentially unwanted programs (PUPs) are pervasive threats that Mac users need to address, Malwarebytes Director of Mac and Mobile Thomas Reed said in a prepared statement. These cyber threats are invading the Mac App Store and can bypass macOS security.
Mac users should go beyond standard macOS protection to safeguard their devices against adware, PUPs and other advanced cyber threats, Reed stated. By doing so, Mac users can limit the risk of cyberattacks before they happen.
Malwarebytes Introduces Endpoint Protection for Mac Devices
Not by coincidence, Malwarebytes this week unveiled Endpoint Protection for Mac to provide system administrators with visibility and security for all devices on their networks.
Key features of Endpoint Protection for Mac include:
- Single Dashboard: Enables system administrators to monitor both Mac and Windows devices.
- Ongoing Connection: Does not require a connection to the Malwarebytes cloud platform, ensuring that system administrators can protect user devices at all times.
- Compliance Support: Allows system administrators to leverage Malwarebytes Endpoint Protection as a validated PCI-DSS replacement for traditional antivirus solutions.
Furthermore, Malwarebytes provides Malwarebytes for Mac, which uses anti-malware technology to detect and remove malware in real-time. It also scans the average Mac in under 15 seconds and removes adware and PUPs that otherwise slow down Mac devices.
