You would be amazed at how many people believe and how Apple Store representatives perpetuate the following myth;
"Mac's don't need an anti-virus solution" 💣. EPIC FAIL 💀
This very discussion occurred before Christmas, consequently triggering the writing of this post, when my niece purchased a Macbook Air at a local Apple Store. For the record, I was no present. In a dinner discussion with my niece, she insisted that "Mac's don't need anti-virus and it slows down the computer." I drilled her, and asked her what did the Apple Store attendant say? She did ask, and paraphrased the attendant, "Ah, it doesn't need it." So, I spent next few hours lecturing her on how bad of an idea is surfing the internet without antivirus. That's like a women going shopping without a purse. No money, no funny. Very difficult to covey risk to a 17 year old, given her credit card info is stored on the laptop for the Apple Store, and can be ransomed.
"Mac's don't need an anti-virus solution" is not only is this misleading, in my opinion it verges on libel. The potential for credit card charges, fraud and identity theft are very high.
Let's kill "Mac's don't need an anti-virus solution" misinformation, for good.
The great thing about the internet is factual data.
Threats Designed for Mac
Experts detected several malicious programs for Mac OS X here are some notable mentions;
Number of Vulnerabilities
According to our friends at Security Vulnerability Database1 for 2015 (Mac's worst year),
1. CVE Details (www.cvedetails.com) is a security vulnerability database that organizes data provided by the National Vulnerability Database (NVD) in a easy to use online web interface. As its name implies, the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) system keeps track of publicly known information-security vulnerabilities and exposures.
CVE is a list of information security vulnerabilities and exposures that aims to provide common names for publicly known problems. The goal of CVE is to make it easier to share data across separate vulnerability capabilities (tools, repositories, and services) with this "common enumeration."
So suck it Mac heads, you are not safe. You simply benefit from hacker laziness, not being attacked as much because Mac has about 7% of desktop market vs Windows 91% in 2016 (see graph below).
Same debate is happening now with smartphones and tablets, the debate is iOS against Android. Numbers show that more than 90% of mobile malware exists on Androids. Why? Well, because Android owns over 80% of the mobile market.
Call to Action
Mac users need to get an anti-virus solution. I recommend Kapersky, rated number #1 anti-virus for many years in a row, available for Windows, Macs, Linux, Iphone and Android phone.
"Mac's don't need an anti-virus solution" 💣. EPIC FAIL 💀
Anecdote
This very discussion occurred before Christmas, consequently triggering the writing of this post, when my niece purchased a Macbook Air at a local Apple Store. For the record, I was no present. In a dinner discussion with my niece, she insisted that "Mac's don't need anti-virus and it slows down the computer." I drilled her, and asked her what did the Apple Store attendant say? She did ask, and paraphrased the attendant, "Ah, it doesn't need it." So, I spent next few hours lecturing her on how bad of an idea is surfing the internet without antivirus. That's like a women going shopping without a purse. No money, no funny. Very difficult to covey risk to a 17 year old, given her credit card info is stored on the laptop for the Apple Store, and can be ransomed.
"Mac's don't need an anti-virus solution" is not only is this misleading, in my opinion it verges on libel. The potential for credit card charges, fraud and identity theft are very high.
Myth
Let's kill "Mac's don't need an anti-virus solution" misinformation, for good.
The great thing about the internet is factual data.
Threats Designed for Mac
Experts detected several malicious programs for Mac OS X here are some notable mentions;
- Backdoor.OSX.Laoshu – a malicious program which makes screenshots every minute. This backdoor is signed by the trusted certificate of the developer which means the creators of the program were about to place it in the AppStore.
- Backdoor.OSX.Ventir – a multi-module Trojan spy with a hidden remote control function. It includes the keystrokes interception driver logkext, the source code for which is publicly available.
- Trojan-Downloader.OSX.WireLurker – an unusual piece of malware designed to steal victims’ data. It attacks not only Mac-based computers but iOS-based devices connected to them. There is also a Windows-based version of this malicious program. It is distributed via a well-known Chinese store that sells apps for OS X and iOS.
Number of Vulnerabilities
According to our friends at Security Vulnerability Database1 for 2015 (Mac's worst year),
- Mac OS X had 444 vulnerabilities versus Windows 8.1 which had 151
(see chart below and drill into the details!). - Mac OS X has nearly 3x times the number of vulnerabilities of any version of Windows!
- Mac OS X has nearly 2x times the number of vulnerabilities of Ubuntu Linux!
1. CVE Details (www.cvedetails.com) is a security vulnerability database that organizes data provided by the National Vulnerability Database (NVD) in a easy to use online web interface. As its name implies, the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) system keeps track of publicly known information-security vulnerabilities and exposures.
CVE is a list of information security vulnerabilities and exposures that aims to provide common names for publicly known problems. The goal of CVE is to make it easier to share data across separate vulnerability capabilities (tools, repositories, and services) with this "common enumeration."
CVE Identifiers (also called "CVE names," "CVE numbers," "CVE-IDs," and "CVEs") are unique, common identifiers for publicly known information security vulnerabilities.
Infection Rate
According to McAfee Labs Quarterly Threat Report June 2017 Mac OS X malware is on the rise.
In 2014, Kaspersky introduced its first line products designed to protect Mac OS X systems blocked almost 3.7 million infection attempts that year. 19 million Mac computers were sold in 2014.
Kaspersky also detected 1,499 malicious programs designed to target Mac OS X, 200 more than the previous year.
The number of Mac exploits is rising year over year.
Additionally, infections go way back and to give the above chart some additional perspective. In 2012 the number of Mac's that suffered from Flashback Trojan virus was estimated to reach 700,000 Macs.
Infection Rate
According to McAfee Labs Quarterly Threat Report June 2017 Mac OS X malware is on the rise.
In 2014, Kaspersky introduced its first line products designed to protect Mac OS X systems blocked almost 3.7 million infection attempts that year. 19 million Mac computers were sold in 2014.
Kaspersky also detected 1,499 malicious programs designed to target Mac OS X, 200 more than the previous year.
The number of Mac exploits is rising year over year.
Additionally, infections go way back and to give the above chart some additional perspective. In 2012 the number of Mac's that suffered from Flashback Trojan virus was estimated to reach 700,000 Macs.
Conclusion
Macs have less attacks, but you are more vulnerable than Windows.
An average, a Mac user encountered 9 threats during the year, in 2014.
No one is safe however, remember this factoid;
Commentary
Macs have less attacks, but you are more vulnerable than Windows.
An average, a Mac user encountered 9 threats during the year, in 2014.
No one is safe however, remember this factoid;
- On average, 23% of user machines were attacked in the 10 safest countries at least once during the year in 2014.
- On average, 31.9% of user computers were subjected to at least one Malware-class web attack over the year in 2016.
Commentary
So suck it Mac heads, you are not safe. You simply benefit from hacker laziness, not being attacked as much because Mac has about 7% of desktop market vs Windows 91% in 2016 (see graph below).
Same debate is happening now with smartphones and tablets, the debate is iOS against Android. Numbers show that more than 90% of mobile malware exists on Androids. Why? Well, because Android owns over 80% of the mobile market.
Call to Action
Mac users need to get an anti-virus solution. I recommend Kapersky, rated number #1 anti-virus for many years in a row, available for Windows, Macs, Linux, Iphone and Android phone.
Chart from Security Vulnerability Database at https://www.cvedetails.com/top-50-products.php?year=2015
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Graph from https://netmarketshare.com/
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