It is widely believed that Mac computers are less prone to malware, compared to their Windows counterparts. According to 9To5Mac, in 2023, at least 21 new Mac malware families were identified. The increase in the number of macOS malware families is reportedly a 50% increase year over year.
According to Patrick Wardle, the founder of Objective-See, the increase in macOS malware was reportedly around 100% in 2023. Wardle worded the increase in Mac malware situation as “no signs of slowdown”.
2024 Mac malware ranking report released
Another noted security researcher and blogger Phil Stokes of cybersecurity firm Sentinel One shared a macOS malware ranking report on X (formerly known as Twitter). The report lists macOS malware according to their popularity to provide a ranking for the year 2024. It highlighted that ransomware, backdoors, and trojans continue to be the most active malware on Mac computers.
Apple is aware of the growing Mac malware situation and added 74 new Yara detection rules to macOS in June 2024. The detection rules look for specific patterns that match known malware signatures or behaviours and help in preventing the detected malware from executing or spreading.
One of the most widespread malware on Mac in 2023 was Atomic Stealer (AMOS) which was termed as an “infostealer”. It was detected in early 2023, as a malware which once installed, targets an user’s system passwords cookies, iCloud Keychain passwords, and credit card details. Additionally, it can compromise crypto wallets such as Atomic, Exodus, Finance, MetaMusk, etc., according to 9To5Mac.
Mac computers continue to rise in popularity, in both personal and business use categories. Earlier, the Mac used to rule a very small market share which resulted in less number of malware targeting the platform. However, Mac user share is an attractive target for cybercriminals.
Additionally, 9To5Mac highlights that there is a substantial increase in malware-as-a-service (MaaS) which allows any person without programming skills to launch cyberattacks.
