We are all surrounded by an orb of cyber threats, which may lead to compromise of our confidential and personal data.
To keep our data safe, Apple’s Mac OS comes with major security techniques and is almost immune to all the threats. But still, our Mac systems need to be customized with more security and privacy features.
However, to break the firewall there are tons of malicious actors out there, capable of collecting all the data and information stored on our Mac. According to reports, malware attacks have increased by 270%, and most of the victims are Mac users.
The actors are continuously targeting Mac users with their innovations and ways every day. Let us take a look at some of the ways that actors use to get into our Mac systems.
1. Adware Threat
Adware can lead to slowing down of the system, as many adware are not authentic and contain some type of virus in them. When clicked on these adware, it redirects you to third-party page, which might have some type of malicious content to slow down Mac.
Must Read : How to Remove Malware and Adware from Your Mac
One of the example of this type of threat is Pirrit Adware. It was discovered on Windows system first in 2014. Later on, a variant for Mac was also added dubbed as ‘OSX.Pirrit’. The Mac version was reportedly much more complex than of Windows. This adware was used to bombard victim’s browser with ads and also to have root access to operating system. It is believed that TargetingEdge, an Israeli Trading Company was behind the OSX.Pirrit adware.
2. Trojans
A trojan backdoor allows malicious actors to get remote control access of the system. Once, the system is taken by actors, they can send, receive, delete any of the files present in Mac.
One of the example is OSX.Calisto trojan, which was discovered by researchers in July. The Calisto trojan is capable of extracting the data from infected Mac and take screenshots as well. It can steal passwords and more confidential information from system easily. To gain remote access, it uninstalls the DMG component of Mac, after which it become easier to gain control of infected system. It performs following operations on Mac:
- Enabling remote login
- Enabling screen sharing
- Adding permissions
- Adding remote login to all users
- Adding its own account on the device
3. Spams & Scams
These are the most popular ways of getting into Mac. As the phishing emails & spams are on rise. Spam mails can contain several things, ransomware, malware or any file that may infect your system. And, if not anything, it redirects you to some unauthenticated third-party page.
Also Read : Best Mac Cleaner Apps To Optimize Your Mac
Whereas, on the other hand, scams are also increasing. Scams such as ‘Apple wants to make changes’ is the most common one, where Mac users are requested to enter their username and password in order to access the system.
4. Malicious Web Browsers
We click on what we like? Right? So, we might have anyhow clicked some malicious link as well, which automatically installs unauthenticated web browser on our Mac. These web browsers come with fake search engines, which on every search redirects you to the specific page hosted by the attackers. Through these browsers they can gather every piece of information from the system with just few codes. One of the example of browser with fake search engine is search.fastsearch.me
These are some of the methods attackers use to get into our Mac. All in all, the level of severity of these attacks is very high. Apple should work more on its cybersecurity features and other security options too. Also, security agencies should focus more on cyber threats, as it is a global issue now.
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