“McAfee tells us that the growth in Mac malware seen last year has continued into this year, growing 53% in the first quarter alone,” Ben Lovejoy reports for 9to5Mac. “The total number of instances of malware detected has reached over 700,000.”
“As before, though, the headline number isn’t as alarming as it might appear,” Lovejoy reports. “First, the company is measuring instances rather than apps. If it detects one piece of malware on ten thousand Macs, that is recorded as 10,000 instances.”
“Second, McAfee again notes that the number has been boosted by ‘a glut of adware,'” Lovejoy reports. “Finally, the instances of Mac malware detected amounted to just 1% of that found on Windows machines, where the total hit almost 700 million. ”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: The world’s most advanced operating system is also the most secure, by far.
Nothing like splashing some big numbers around in the media to amp up the fear-factor, McAfee. Your nothing more than self serving capitalist pigs hiding within an apparition of psuedo-concern for your fellow man’s digital well-being. Not to mention the disgraceful name association too. May all their crotches be perpetually infested with ticks and fleas.
Perhaps we can add in a few leeches too being the perfect metaphor for these parasitic & self-serving faux-alarmist blood suckers.
made me chuckle, both of you.
Also, an increase from 1 to 2 would be an increase of 100%. So percentages do have to be taken in context.
Americans should invest in more maths education. That’s 0.1%, not 1%.
P.S. I’m surprised nobody else had noted that. Dear imaginary being in the sky!
If you feel it in your gut, it must be true…gut math.
The older I get, the stupider the masses of humanity appear to become. Simple math and grammar are too much for most people, it seems.
Naf know-nothing nonsense: growing 53% in the first quarter alone.
Considering that Mac malware was relatively next to ZERO at the end of 2016, OMG let’s all PaNiC! 53% higher is statistical hogwash.
Here’s what’s going been on with Mac malware in 2017. The list is short enough that typing it out here takes up little of my time. This list is also short enough and the malware lame enough that I haven’t even bothered to mention it in my Mac-Security blog. PLUS Apple has blocked all of it in their XProtect OS security system. IOW: Stupid McAfee marketing.
1) OSX.Trojan.X-Agent.A
2) OSX.Ransomware.Findzip.A
3) OSX.RAT.Proton.A-B
4) OSX.Trojan.Dok.A-C
5) OSX.RAT.EvilOSX.A
6) OSX.RAT.Snake.A-C
7) OSX.Trojan(RaaS).MacRansom.A
8) OSX.Trojan (RATaaS).MacSpy.A
Note that due to the distinctly UNscientific nature of the anti-malware biz, there are a variety of competing names for most of the above malware. I stick to using the earliest name I can find.
Of the above, those of continuing concern are:
A) OSX.RAT.Snake – This is being sold in an infection kit and its developer has been spinning out new versions on a regular basis.
B) OSX.Trojan (RATaaS).MacSpy – This is a new combination of malware strategies and is therefore a subject of intense study.
The only other potential concern is something called ‘Stack Clash’, which affects all BSD Unix server variants. I am personally assuming that includes macOS servers. But so far there has been no verification that macOS is affected. Apple knows about it and it is up to them to sort it out.
There. I just ran rings around McAfee’s FUD.
If you want to nail ADWARE, I recommend checking out Malwarebyte’s Anti-Malware app. It is specifically designed to seek out and remove all current adware. It’s written and administered by a colleague I’ve known for nearly 10 years. And it’s FREE.
I personally also use Intego’s VirusBarrier as I still believe it to be the best designed and effective for Mac malware. I also use ClamXav for both Mac malware and Windows malware. If you’re into CLIs, there’s a free CLI version called ClamAV.
And no, I don’t pick up malware off the net because I know how to avoid it. I run anti-malware software to keep up with the current state anti-malware development. It’s a highly enjoyed avocation on my part. /blah
I heard mcafee released their source code to Russia, WTF, Unbelievable.