I’d argue that adware and spyware are indistinguishable and both are equally harmful, though the online advertising industry would insist otherwise. McAffeeīlame “adware bundling” on the recent spike. Malicious adware operates without your consent, and in this context it’s considered a “Trojan spyware” kind of infection. Most adware is supposed to do this with your consent, though gaining consent is hazily defined these days-and it’s the nature of adware that users don’t typically know it’s on their computer because the files don’t readily appear in their system.
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(McAfee attributes the sharp increase in Q4 to the recent rise of “adware bundling” on Macs, where adware is bundled with things like Java for Mac and downloading services like SourceForge.)Īdware is software that displays ads on your computer, collects marketing data about you (like what websites you visit), and can redirect your search requests to ad websites, among other things. And they found that adware companies were behind most of them. In the security firm’s most recent Threats Report, its researchers identified around 460,000 malware instances designed for MacOS in 2016. It’s coming from the other Mafia of nonconsensual tracking, recording, and surveilling innocent users: the ad industry.
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But McAfee Labs found something really interesting about the malware Mac users are ending up with. To cybercrime rings, Apple users are a beggar’s banquet of trusting, sitting ducks.
It makes sense that a large user base equals a larger target. Malware on Macs has increased dramatically. There are nearly 100 million Apple users worldwide, myself included.
Add to this the fact that, despite the seeming ubiquity of Apple’s products, the company’s user base is still growing. Despite this, most people still believe that Macs don’t get viruses. In fact, the number of malware attacks on Apple’s operating system skyrocketed by 744 percent in 2016.
Even if you’re not totally on board with this, chances are good you at least behave like Macs are immune. And no matter which infosec church you’re most swayed by, you’re probably one of the many who believe that Macs don’t get malware. Computer security is science, yet it sure seems to traffic in enough beliefs to make it seem like a collection of warring cults.
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