Potentially unwanted programs are apps that are often downloaded along with software you actually want or come pre-installed on your device.

They are becoming a “noticeable nuisance,” and some of them are able to track your activity, making them a privacy issue as well. Those may not be as “dangerous,” as the report says. While Windows devices were more prone to “traditional” malware, the top 10 Mac threats were adware and what are known as “potentially unwanted programs.”Īdware typically redirects users to websites with ads on them or throws pop-up ads in front of their intended internet destination. That’s not great, but it’s not as bad as that 400 percent increase.Īlso, the report says, the types of threats differ between operating systems. In 2018, there were 4.8 threats per Mac device, which means the per-device number has more than doubled. That makes the per-device statistic a better barometer. First of all, as Malwarebytes notes, the increase in threats could be attributable to an increase in Mac devices running its software. Now, this isn’t quite as bad as it may appear. This makes macOS a fertile ground for the influx of new threats, whereas it’s common knowledge that Windows PCs need security software.” “I still frequently encounter people who firmly believe this, and who believe that using any kind of security software is not necessary, or even harmful. “There is a rising tide of Mac threats hitting a population that still believes that ‘Macs don’t get viruses,’” Reed said.

Malwarebytes said there was a 400 percent increase in threats on Mac devices from 2018 to 2019, and found an average of 11 threats per Mac devices, which about twice the 5.8 average on Windows.

But as Apple’s computers have grown in popularity, hackers appear to be focusing more of their attention on the versions of macOS that power them. Windows machines still dominate the market share and tend to have more security vulnerabilities, which has for years made them the bigger and easier target for hackers. “People need to understand that they’re not safe just because they’re using a Mac,” Thomas Reed, Malwarebytes’ director of Mac and mobile and contributor to the report, told Recode. The amount of malware on Macs is outpacing PCs for the first time ever, and your complacency could be your worst enemy. Think your Apple product is safe from malware? That only people using Windows machines have to take precautions? According to cybersecurity software company Malwarebytes’ latest State of Malware report, it’s time to think again.

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