There has been a long-standing rumour that Macs are immune to viruses and now, someone has proven Macs can be infected. The word is out in CNET's article: 'Apple users beware: First live ransomware targeting Macs found ‘in the wild'. What does this mean for Apple users? Has something changed within the Mac OS X and do they need to do anything different?
Which Mac operating systems (OS) do these antiviruses protect? In general, most antivirus products will be available for OS X 10.10 and later. There are certain instances where newer Macs and operating systems benefit from better service. For instance, my top free antivirus for Mac, Avira, is only available for OS X 10.13 and later. While Mac-specific vulnerabilities and threats don't make news headlines as often as other devices, they're certainly not immune to attacks. That's why it's important to equip your Mac with antivirus that stays on top of emerging viruses and malware and why we remain dedicated to providing protection for Macs.
Follow Lisacintosh; Lisacintosh. A space third person shooter, with narrative. An Human Immune System Simulation. But as the year came to a close, the average user of the Mac OS continued to see fewer malware and ransomware threats than Windows users, security experts say. Not Immune, Though.
The rumours
To answer these questions, let's start by exploring the rumour that Macs are immune. This rumour has been around for a long time. I believe it was five years ago when my father told me that a salesperson at a large retailer told him this ‘fact'. At that time, I knew it wasn't exactly true and I did a little digging as into why and now I am re-exploring the same issue. Five years ago, How-To Geek published an article on why Macs may not be immune to viruses. In this article they site three possible reasons why the Mac OS X is less-prone to viruses:
Market share – In 2011, Windows users greatly outnumbered Mac users as illustrated in this very interesting chart from How-to Geek.
Time and effort – Being there were more PCs on the market in 2011, more was known about them and less research was needed by an attacker. 'Security by minority' according to How-To Geek.
Short list of viruses – in this article, they state in 2008, there were less than 200 pieces of malware targeting Apple. I will note that their source for this information is no longer available, so take this number with a grain of salt.
Let's skip ahead to more recent findings on the topic. According to an article by Venture Beat in September of 2015, the operating system market share for personal computers still belongs to Windows. In other words, the term 'security by minority' still holds true.
According to an article by Digital Trends in May of 2015, another reason for Macs being targeted by malware is the profitability. This goes hand-in-hand with time and effort from above. There is still more known about Windows and it is easier to write malware to target Windows.
Ransomware attack
As we have seen from recent news, number three above may not hold true for long. The list of viruses targeting Macs is starting to grow. One such virus is a type called ransomware. If you are unfamiliar with what ransomware does, it infects your computer and locks all of your files. It will then send you to a screen stating that if you want to access your computer again, you will need to pay a certain amount of money to do so. They also typically give you a quick deadline (before they erase your files) to respond by in order to increase the pressure to pay. It is hard to trace as they will use currency like bitcoins to collect the ransom. If infected, there is not much you can do. There are sites now combating the ransomware virus which publish a list of codes which have been given to unlock files that are held hostage. If one of the published ones works, you are in luck, if not, you might have to pay or forgo your files.
Why Macs and why now?
It was always a question of 'when' and not 'if' when it came to Macs becoming a target by viruses. Tech professionals have been saying for years that they knew it was possible, but it was a matter of when someone of a questionable nature was going to invest their time and resources to execute it. Basically, someone took on the challenge of creating a ransomware that will work on the Mac OS X and succeeded. Nothing has changed within the OS and it is nothing that Apple did. So what does this mean going forward?
Safety tips
If you own a Mac and are concerned, there are some tips (adapted from Dan Kusnetzky at Virtualization Review) to help keep your data safe.
Awareness
Understand that you are vulnerable. You are already part of the way to making your Mac safe by reading this article. You have now read that there is a possibility that your Mac could become infected with a virus and you need to act upon this awareness.
Immune (lisacintosh) Mac Os X
Anti-virus software
Own it and keep it updated. It's not 100 per cent protection, but it will keep a lot of the pesky viruses at bay.
Proceed with caution
Watch the sites you visit and files you open. Sites that offer freeware or free games have a potential to have something nasty hanging onto that programme. Only visit sites you know to be safe and do not download anything that you don't know is 100 per cent safe. I know this is sometimes difficult as you are surfing to gain knowledge on something and are following a never-ending list of links or are on social media and something piques your interest. Social media is kind of nice as you can check comments to make sure others have had success accessing the site without issue. As for files you have emailed to you, make sure it is legit. If there are any extensions or strange characters in the name of the file, do not open.
Is Apple any less-safe than they were before? Not really. They have always been at risk, it's just that someone has recently targeted them. Apple is still low as far as the number of viruses out there written for Mac OS X. The big issue is that if you think you are invincible, someone will challenge you on it.
SBS
If you would like to know more on how to protect your systems from ransomware and other viruses and hacks, please give me a call on 0161 827 1600 or visit us at www.sbs-networks.co.uk.
A phishing scam has targeted Mac users by redirecting them from legitimate websites to fake websites which tell them that their computer is infected with a virus. The user is then offered Mac Defender 'anti-virus' software to solve the issue.
This 'anti-virus' software is malware (i.e. malicious software). Its ultimate goal is to get the user's credit card information which may be used for fraudulent purposes.
The most common names for this malware are MacDefender, MacProtector and MacSecurity.
Apple released a free software update (Security Update 2011-003) that will automatically find and remove Mac Defender malware and its known variants.
The Resolution section below also provides step-by-step instructions on how to avoid or manually remove this malware.
Resolution
Immune (lisacintosh) Mac Os Download
How to avoid installing this malware
If any notifications about viruses or security software appear, quit Safari or any other browser that you are using. If a normal attempt at quitting the browser doesn't work, then Force Quit the browser.
In some cases, your browser may automatically download and launch the installer for this malicious software. If this happens, cancel the installation process; do not enter your administrator password. Delete the installer immediately using the steps below.
- Go into the Downloads folder, or your preferred download location.
- Drag the installer to the Trash.
- Empty the Trash.
How to remove this malware
Immune (lisacintosh) Mac Os 11
If the malware has been installed, we recommend the following actions:
- Do not provide your credit card information under any circumstances.
- Use the Removal Steps below.
Chicken run (itch) (jackb123) mac os. Removal steps
- Move or close the Scan Window.
- Go to the Utilities folder in the Applications folder and launch Activity Monitor.
- Choose All Processes from the pop up menu in the upper right corner of the window.
- Under the Process Name column, look for the name of the app and click to select it; common app names include: MacDefender, MacSecurity or MacProtector.
- Click the Quit Process button in the upper left corner of the window and select Quit.
- Quit Activity Monitor application.
- Open the Applications folder.
- Locate the app ex. MacDefender, MacSecurity, MacProtector or other name.
- Drag to Trash, and empty Trash.
Malware also installs a login item in your account in System Preferences. Removal of the login item is not necessary, but you can remove it by following the steps below.
- Open System Preferences, select Accounts, then Login Items
- Select the name of the app you removed in the steps above ex. MacDefender, MacSecurity, MacProtector
- Click the minus button
Use the steps in the 'How to avoid installing this malware' section above to remove the installer from the download location.
Note: Apple provides security updates for the Mac exclusively through Software Update and the Apple Support Downloads site. User should exercise caution any time they are asked to enter sensitive personal information online.
