Mac and mobile malware jump over 60 percent, with sharp increase in adware

“Enterprises, beware. Threat actors are continuing to eye businesses for high returns on investment in Q1 2019, breaching infrastructure, exfiltrating or holding data hostage, and abusing weak credentials for continued, targeted monitoring,” Malwarebytes reports. “From a steadfast increase of pervasive Trojans, such as Emotet, to a resurgence of ransomware lodged against corporate targets, learn how cybercriminals are going after organizations with a vengeance—and slowing down their attacks against individuals—in our Cybercrime Tactics and Techniques Q1 2019 report.”

Key takeaways from the report include:

• Overall threats against businesses have increased more than 200 percent year over year, while consumer detections declined by nearly 40 percent from the previous quarter.

• Detections of Emotet against businesses have risen by more than 200 percent from Q4 2018.

• Ransomware is back and targeting organizations with an increase of 195 percent in detections quarter over quarter.

• Mac and mobile malware increased quarter over quarter by more than 60 percent, with adware in particular seeing a sharp increase.

• A new section on privacy highlights user concerns about the safety of their personal information, and demonstrates how businesses are failing at protecting their customers’—and their own—data

Full report here.

“Though the volume of Mac-specific malware grew 62% from Q4 2018 into Q1 2019, adware’s 201% growth was the biggest contributor to the overall increase in threats on macOS,” Malcolm Owen reports for AppleInsider. “The highest-ranked Mac malware was PCVARK, shifting the former top three of MacKeeper, MacBooster, and MplayerX down to second, third, and seventh place on the list, respectively. One adware family named NewTab jumped in usage, rising from 60th place to fourth overall.”

Read more in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: Think before you click (or tap) and do not install suspect software. As always, never install MacKeeper. Let’s be careful out there!

SEE ALSO:
MacKeeper scamware leaks 13 million Mac owners’ data, leaves passwords open to easy cracking – December 15, 2015
Security researcher claims to have downloaded sensitive data from 13 million accounts of MacKeeper scamware app – December 14, 2015
MacKeeper buyers ask for refunds in droves following class-action lawsuit – October 23, 2015
MacKeeper customers can file a claim to get their money back – August 10, 2015
Don’t waste your money on OS X snake oil for your Mac – July 28, 2015
How to detect and remove MacKeeper and keylogger malware on your Mac – July 17, 2015
Controversial MacKeeper security program opens critical hole on Mac computers – May 12, 2015
What ‘MacKeeper’ is and why you should avoid it – January 21, 2015
How to uninstall MacKeeper from your Mac – December 19, 2014