Mac security threats are on the rise like never before: these are the risks you need to watch out for
Buying a Mac device to stay protected from cyber threats isn’t a tactic that will work well in 2024, new research shows.
A new report from Malwarebytes claims that threats against Apple’s Mac devices are on the rise, indicating that users should be vigilant when surfing the treacherous waters of the Internet, regardless of the device they use.
“The days of “my Mac is safe” and “Macs don’t get malware” are definitely over. There are many signs that criminals are taking note of the platform’s increasing popularity by enabling attacks that can target both Windows and Mac users simultaneously,” Malwarebytes wrote.
MacStealer and AMOS are on the rise
According to the company’s 2024 State of Malware report, MacStealer is a relatively new infostealer that targets Mac users and is quickly gaining popularity.
MacStealer is an information-stealing malware that can steal cookies, passwords and credit card information from the Firefox, Google Chrome and Brave browsers. It can exfiltrate several file types including .txt, .doc, .jpg and .zip. Moreover, MacStealer can also extract KeyChain database. Some researchers suggest that the developers of the malware are also working to make the tool collect information stored in the Safari browser and also in the Notes app.
In the report, Malwarebytes also warned about a campaign it discovered in September 2023 that distributed the Atomic Stealer (AKA AMOS) to Mac users via malicious advertisements. Like MacStealer, AMOS can steal passwords from browsers and Apple’s KeyChain. AMOS can also obtain various files and even steal people’s cryptocurrency.
Additionally, malware made up 11% of all threat detections on Macs last year. Apart from that, potentially unwanted programs and advertisements were by far the largest category, taking up 30% of all threat detections. Other notable mentions include Adware.OperatorMac (13%), OSX.Genieo (11%), and OSX.Vsearch (11%).
Through 9to5Mac