Malware Attacks on Macs Up 744% in 2016, Mostly Due to Adware

[OneMike]

From the article: "Mac users who want to avoid malware and adware should only download software from trusted developers and directly from the Mac App Store, which should keep Mac machines relatively safe."

That should be common sense. Although like with whatever that Mac torrent client is. It's possible the developer could be compromised

 

[JGRE]

But Macs don't get viruses! 🙄
[doublepost=1491522500][/doublepost]

I haven't had a virus on a PC in over 10 years.

The only people that do are doing one of the following: installing things from unknown email attachments, installing 'cracked' software they don't want to pay for, or installing things that promise free porn.

You can do all these thing with our worrying about anything on Mac, which is great if your tech savvy family members are using you machine as well.
[doublepost=1491769852][/doublepost]

I'm having a lot of problems with genuine (not porn) websites being redirected to sites saying my iPad has been hacked and demanding a ransom. I'm also getting redirected to a lot of sites that are in no way related to the website I was looking for. I'm hoping 10.3 will have fixed this.

Genuine, I don't think so. This smells like a phishing website.
[doublepost=1491770253][/doublepost]

I decided to pull the plug and bought Bitdefender this year. AV software is cheap these days and a good security program use very little system resources.

I have seen the effects of ransomware on a Mac. The lady was tricked by a malicious web site and the thing encrypted all her documents and her Time Machine backup. The 2 networked drives her Mac was accessing were encrypted too. Not pretty.

I try to be cautious when browsing and opening mail but the bad guys are also getting smarter by the minute. I think it is a little silly not to get an AV product these days just because Apple told us once that "Mac users are safe and don't need security software".

I love macOS, and for me installing an AV product doesn't mean losing a stupid bragging rights contest. Why take the risk if nowadays there are excellent security products to chose from?

Software claiming to be AV (like Bitdefender) for macOS is malware by itself.

 

[69Mustang]

Overreacting or not, he is right though.

Not sure who questioned whether or not he was right. Certainly not me. Again, he was the only one overreacting... especially with the hyperbolic hypothetical numbers when the article provided the exact figures.

 

[IJ Reilly]

That should be common sense. Although like with whatever that Mac torrent client is. It's possible the developer could be compromised

And how do you be certain when a developer is trusted? Apple's method for that is for downloads to be signed, but not every developer can comply with those requirements. For instance, you can't install Handbrake without overriding the "trusted developer" security firewall.

 

[OneMike]

And how do you be certain when a developer is trusted? Apple's method for that is for downloads to be signed, but not every developer can comply with those requirements. For instance, you can't install Handbrake without overriding the "trusted developer" security firewall.

I just mean due diligence. Surely you can know if a developer is reputable or not. I use handbrake as well as vagrant and other software that fits the criteria.

You just have to be responsible and research what you're about to install.

I feel with macOS many say Macs can't get viruses, which causes them to be less careful and get install happy.

 

[IJ Reilly]

I just mean due diligence. Surely you can know if a developer is reputable or not. I use handbrake as well as vagrant and other software that fits the criteria.

You just have to be responsible and research what you're about to install.

I feel with macOS many say Macs can't get viruses, which causes them to be less careful and get install happy.

This gets complicated, vague, and kind of random in a hurry. Nothing about the Handbrake download site for example speaks to it being reputable. The only reason I know anything about that software is from years of use. Still every time I go back to that site to download a new version I think it all looks a little shady.

 

[JGRE]

Not sure who questioned whether or not he was right. Certainly not me. Again, he was the only one overreacting... especially with the hyperbolic hypothetical numbers when the article provided the exact figures.

Perhaps he overreacted a bit, but the title of this post "Malware Attacks on Macs Up 744% in 2016", is a hyperbole by itself. If numbers don't make sense, don't present them and expect people to read the BS story attached. This is "fake news".
[doublepost=1491822712][/doublepost]

Software in general has become more available on the Mac, so I suppose it's about time malware developers caught on. Hurray for progress!

No, not really, someone managed to get malware into Transmission on their site, this doesn't say anything about macOS, but only something about the IT security of Transmission (this should never have happend). Without this incident, the macOS malware line would still be flat as a pancake.

 

[jaymie1983]

People are still daft enough to click whatever tells them to click here... it's good for business tho, for folk like me who will clean out the crap for a fee

 

[69Mustang]

Perhaps he overreacted a bit, but the title of this post "Malware Attacks on Macs Up 744% in 2016", is a hyperbole by itself. If numbers don't make sense, don't present them and expect people to read the BS story attached. This is "fake news".

Not sure why you're trying to justify the original quote. The hyperbole in the headline is not justification for the hyperbole in the quote I commented on earlier. The "they did it, so I did it" defense is a defense my daughter stopped using when she was 5. She stopped because she realized that's not how logic works.

I agree the headline is hyperbolic. Intentionally so because they want you to read the article... where the information is contained. Anyone reading the article would immediately see the author stating there's really no big concern. But that would require reading beyond the headline.

Curious, what numbers don't make sense? The article gives you the numbers collected, tells how they were categorized, and gives an explanation of what they mean.

 

[JGRE]

Not sure why you're trying to justify the original quote. The hyperbole in the headline is not justification for the hyperbole in the quote I commented on earlier. The "they did it, so I did it" defense is a defense my daughter stopped using when she was 5. She stopped because she realized that's not how logic works.

I agree the headline is hyperbolic. Intentionally so because they want you to read the article... where the information is contained. Anyone reading the article would immediately see the author stating there's really no big concern. But that would require reading beyond the headline.

Curious, what numbers don't make sense? The article gives you the numbers collected, tells how they were categorized, and gives an explanation of what they mean.

Agree with you, but see where was coming from; the article annoyed me too.
A 744% increase: comparing almost nothing to absolutely nothing, next to this the macOS graphs do not explain anything whatsoever. There are pages about Windows malware, nothing on macOS. Would have been better if McFee would have kept silence on macOS.

 

[IJ Reilly]

Agree with you, but see where was coming from; the article annoyed me to.
A 744% increase: comparing almost nothing to absolutely nothing, next to this the macOS graphs do not explain anything whatsoever. There are pages about Windows malware, nothing on macOS. Would have been better if McFee would have kept silence on macOS.

McAfee isn't going to keep silent. Talking about malware is their business. But if someone is going to report on what they are saying, they aren't being responsible reporters if they are doing nothing more than parroting a press release. That's the problem here; not a single shred of outside knowledge is applied to the subject, and as a consequence, we the readers learn nothing beyond what some company wants us to hear.

 

[bfChris2]

Truth be told, I'm not sure I know the difference, and nobody, not McAfee, not MR, nor any of the posters in this thread, seem to be either willing or able to explain it either.

The best way to explain the difference between virus and malware would be to take the word virus to its source—the human body. A virus replicates itself and fights to keep itself from being eradicated, so that it can spread from its host to other hosts. Multiplication is the method it uses most often, in order to overwhelm defenses and to put more copies of itself on other hosts. That applies with wetware (people) and hardware/software (computers).
Malware would be akin to a poison. It doesn't (usually) try to multiply itself and spread, because it is administered to each victim by the perpetrator, one at a time. Arsenic in your dinner, adware in your browser window. Each browser retrieves the poison from a website; each spouse consumes the arsenic in their dinner.

 

[GGJstudios]

Truth be told, I'm not sure I know the difference, and nobody, not McAfee, not MR, nor any of the posters in this thread, seem to be either willing or able to explain it either.

The difference between malware and adware is simple. Malware is typically designed to cause harm to files, applications and even the OS. Adware is designed to advertise. Malware is bad. Adware is annoying.

 

[IJ Reilly]

The difference between malware and adware is simple. Malware is typically designed to cause harm to files, applications and even the OS. Adware is designed to advertise. Malware is bad. Adware is annoying.

A difference without a meaningful distinction. They both found their way onto your computer without your knowledge, leaving the choice of whether they do harm or merely annoy up to their creator.

 

[GGJstudios]

A difference without a meaningful distinction. They both found their way onto your computer without your knowledge, leaving the choice of whether they do harm or merely annoy up to their creator.

The only way they make their way onto a computer without the user's knowledge is if the user is careless. Neither Mac malware nor adware download and install themselves without the user's permission or action.

 

[IJ Reilly]

The only way they make their way onto a computer without the user's knowledge is if the user is careless. Neither Mac malware nor adware download and install themselves without the user's permission or action.

Again, this is not news anyone can really use. Nobody says, "please, install malware and adware on my computer."