Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) the most sought tech behemoth in consumer base is traditionally popular for its well-built electronics devices and more secure operating system environment. But the glossy company is losing its sheen and mojo with the rising cybersecurity challenges. Thus exposing an exceedingly tough atmosphere for both the company, as well as, Apple’s end-customers!
The menace of malware has increased its spread for Mac users in a quick span of time. A recent report from Malwarebytes has highlighted that MAC malware has risen up 62% from the fourth quarter of 2018 to the first quarter of 2019. Moreover, adware becoming more widespread with the accession covering 201% for the corresponding period.
The report from Malwarebytes, titled “Cybercrime Tactics and Techniques“, informs about the number of slumping overall threats against consumers. Some sporadic occurrences of malware-based crypto mining and ransomware, are found to be drastically diminishing over the last quarter, and there is a significant decline in the number of malware apprehensions. While consumers are noticing only some threats, there has been an intensification in strikes against infrastructure and business users, with greater targets proposing potentially extensive rewards.
Although the total amount of Mac-focussed malware increased 62% from Q4 2018 to Q1 2019, adware’s 201% growth was the prominent patron to the comprehensive escalation in threats on Mac OS. The topmost and leading Mac malware held to be PCVARK, turning down the recent top three of MacKeeper, MacBooster, and MplayerX that are pulled back to second, third, and seventh place on the table. One of the adware family named NewTab shooked up in routine practice, climbing from 60th position to 4th position respectively.
Recently, Mac was ruled over by the unique types of attack techniques in the quarter, that includes the adoption of open source code to generate backdoors, crypto mining malware, and indeed the presence of Windows-based executable files being located on the macOS desktop. As in the case of cryptocurrencies transactions, mining is utterly dropping on Mac, robbery of Bitcoin and Etherium from the digital wallets was figured to be $2.3 million approximately. It is found that cybercriminals are adopting a vulnerability in the cryptocurrency wallets to develop a trojan-laden version.
As in accordance with the Malwarebytes’ reports, wicked hackers are exceedingly interchanging the open-source Python code to dispense their malware and adware packages potentially into the Mac system. That was actually originating with a backdoor denoted as “Bella” in 2017, the practice of open source code has expanded. And lately, in 2018, the cybercriminals have adapted cryptic software such as EvilOSX, EggShell, EmPyre and a Python reverse shell for Metasploit, the reports revealed.
In extension to backdoors, malware and adware inventors are manifesting a deep interest in Python-based program MITMProxy, that can be easily applied in a man-in-the-middle attack to ferret out encrypted SSL and other sensitive data from supervised network traffic. The open-source XMRig cryptocurrency miner was also detected in crypto mining malware over the following quarter.
The Malwarebytes report is curatively based on data extracted from its business and consumer software products within Jan. 1 through March 31, 2019.
By glimpsing forth, Malwarebytes foresee small and medium-size businesses to understand a spate of fresh new attacks. Where the Asia-Pacific region will be seized to administer with a grave threat based on WannaCry or Backdoor.Vools. The progress of ransomware development is expected to spring up this year, but attacks will probably be limited to businesses as hackers preserve their most dominant malware for exceptional revenue targets.
