![]() ![]() The report found that adware, a tactic used by developers to generate money by automatically generating adverts on users’ screens, accounted for over a fifth (22.6%) of threats targeting macOS. ![]() The report found that PUA detections on Macs are crypto miners and 1% are jailbreak utilities.īitdefender said that developers have “flooded” the market with such apps, some of which are persuasive enough to get users to disable restrictions and run apps from any source. Some PUAs can hijack a user’s browser, changing the default search engine and installing plugins without consent, and “highly aggressive” ones can modify third-party apps, download additional (unsolicited) software, and alter system settings. ![]() These applications, commonly found as freeware, repackaged applications or utility apps, represent a quarter (25.3%) of threats to macOS, according to the researchers. This shows in the number of unique samples that kept coming since 2020, but it’s not just an increase in samples – it’s also an increase in the quality of malware,” he explained. The EvilQuest malware, for instance, has been active since late 2020 and continues to perfect itself. “While the bulk of the Mac badware used to revolve around greyware and potentially unwanted apps, the balance has tilted this year in favour of more potent Trojans. While the report noted some of these can be considered “legacy malware,” they are still proving effective due to many users failing to configure proper security settings and/or deploying a dedicated security solution.īotezatu told Infosecurity that the macOS landscape is undergoing significant changes regarding the quantity and quality of malware. The most common Trojan families used to target MacOS in 2022 were EvilQuest (52.7%), followed by Generic Trojan (22.4%), Exploit (8.2%), Flashback (2.7%) and Empire (2.6%). Tainted file downloads via torrent or warez websites.Malvertising served via social media or websites.Socially engineered communications, such as spam, phishing and social media.Threat actors use a range of techniques to infect macOS with Trojans, according to the Bitdefender researchers. The report found that Mac users were mainly targeted by three key threats in 2022 – Trojans, Potentially Unwanted Applications (PUAs) and Adware – with Trojans making up over half (51.8%) of threat detections. We expect the existing threats to evolve and become more refined with time.” Speaking to Infosecurity, Bogdan Botezatu, Director of Threat Research at Bitdefender, noted: “Threat actors are now building much more sophisticated malware creations, and many times target multiple OS platforms and architectures in the same attack. While Apple’s ecosystem still experiences a narrower range of threats than other popular operating systems like Microsoft’s Windows and Google’s ChromeOS, the researchers warned that “this false sense of protection often means malware tailored to infect Macs is better suited to its goals.” Threat actors are becoming more efficient at targeting Mac users through MacOS tailored malware, according to Bitdefender’s macOS Threat Landscape Report. ![]()
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