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Apple Mac Computers Are Being Targeted By Ransomware, Spyware (bbc.com)
If you are a Mac user, you should be aware of new variants of malware that have been created specifically to target Apple computers; one is ransomware and the other is spyware. "The two programs were uncovered by the security firms Fortinet and AlienVault, which found a portal on the Tor 'dark web' network that acted as a shopfront for both," reports BBC. "In a blog post, Fortinet said the site claimed that the creators behind it were professional software engineers with 'extensive experience' of creating working code." From the report: Those wishing to use either of the programs had been urged to get in touch and provide details of how they wanted the malware to be set up. The malware's creators had said that payments made by ransomware victims would be split between themselves and their customers. Researchers at Fortinet contacted the ransomware writers pretending they were interested in using the product and, soon afterwards, were sent a sample of the malware. Analysis revealed that it used much less sophisticated encryption than the many variants seen targeting Windows machines, said the firm. However, they added, any files scrambled with the ransomware would be completely lost because it did a very poor job of handling the decryption keys needed to restore data. The free Macspy spyware, offered via the same site, can log which keys are pressed, take screenshots and tap into a machine's microphone. In its analysis, AlienVault researcher Peter Ewane said the malicious code in the spyware tried hard to evade many of the standard ways security programs spot and stop such programs.
This is news. That tells you it's shockingly unusual. That is to say if the word apple were not there it would not be news.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
No. Just no. This kind of article has appeared regularly year after year ever since Apple had something of a resurgence. It's glorified marketing by A/V firms, and I'm surprised to see it echoed on a tech site – I can understand the BBC naively regurgitating anything with an interesting headline, but are the owners of this site sponsored to repeat this rubbish? And who rated this 'informative'?
This isn't even as interesting as past attempts to frighten users into buying software they don't need (and will probably make their machines perform far worse). It isn't even a working threat – it's badly written (if you read the article closely) source code being offered to someone to make a working malware package with, i.e. it isn't even out there. There are already real threats out there, so how can this be interesting?
Finally, the best advice to Mac users is not to clutter their machine with half-baked clutter than most likely wouldn't stop a real threat anyway. All malware currently requires their active assistance, e.g. entering an admin password for installation or handing over password and other personal information. The best defence is:
- Keep your software updated
- Don't enter passwords unless you're 100% certain what it's for
- Don't click on email links
- Don't hand over personal data unless you're 100% sure who is asking for it and why