Mac Malware

Image by kalhh from Pixabay

By BD Bondy (I know it's not a Mac in that photo)

Every once in a while I write about this, that Mac’s get malware too. It used to be an advertising point of Apple, not a very honest one, that Mac’s don’t get malware. It was never true. As a statistically small percentage of the market, Mac’s were not targeted as much as PC’s, but these days, bad actors are targeting anything they can.
Most attacks start fairly quietly, as an email perhaps. In the business world especially, employees may receive some innocuous email asking for confirmation info, or personal data, enough to get an ‘in’. Once that is breached, the attack accelerates. It’s the same with home computers.

You might get an email, or a pop-up, saying you have a virus and to call a number for help. That’s fake, but it can seem real at the time, especially if it’s accompanied by loud noise and a blinking red screen that won’t go away. The email may ask you to confirm your login or your bank account will be frozen, or your email will be frozen, or whatever. Or maybe it says your Amazon order of $399 is about to ship and if you didn’t place this order, click on the link and sign in to cancel it.

All fake.

And all those ploys will work on a Mac as well as any other device, because it’s not really targeting the device, it’s targeting you. And as they get better at faking things, we have to get better at recognizing them. Be suspicious. That’s the best advice I can give.

What got me started on this particular rant was an email I got from Malwarebytes. You can read it HERE.
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I do like Malwarebytes, and I pay for several licenses of their product. Over the years I have found their software to be extremely helpful in cleaning up mine and many other people’s computer. This particular email was a bit cliched and inflammatory, but substantially accurate. Mac’s do indeed get attacked.
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Malwarebytes is free to download and use, though they can be annoying in their relentless attempts to get you to buy their product. I still think it’s worthwhile. No software is 100 percent, but being vigil and using some sort of additional protection is a good idea.