The year 2019 saw the macOS platform gaining control over Windows in terms of the number of malware detections on each computer, indicates the security software publisher Malwarebytes in its Annual Report.
This study focused on the analysis of Macs and PCs used by customers of its anti-virus. It shows that an average of 11 software threat detections was made on each Mac against 5.8 threats on average on each PC. From simple to double. The previous year, the average on Mac was 4.8 detections.
Malwarebytes explains this in part by the growth in the number of its customers on the Apple platform, but not only. The popularity of the Mac naturally makes it a more attractive target for malware writers.
The other interesting observation is the nature of these threats. The most frequently encountered malware does not respond to the classic image that one can have of it, namely software that will destroy files on the machine or extort personal data. The most popular in the top 10 are Adware as well as potentially unwanted programs (PUP in English).
Malwarebytes recorded around 24 million detections on Windows in this adware category and 30 million on macOS. An adware aims to generate money with the forced display of advertising content or the use of affiliate links to merchant sites. You are not dispossessed of your data but you are hampered in your use of the web and you contribute to enrich a third party.
The 2019 star of these Mac adware has been newtab, detected 28 million times by Malwarebytes software. A fake web page for tracking a package or air flights makes you download an app which will be added to Safari and will then display banner ads for the benefit of the author of the malware.
The so-called potentially unwanted programs (PUPs) are those like MacKeeper or MacBooster that squat the Mac and try to force their users to upgrade to a paid version to supposedly improve machine performance. They are numerous but their presence, in volume, has decreased since 2018.
These malware, which are growing on Mac, do not have a classic profile of viruses or Trojans. But they nonetheless have a daily nuisance capacity.
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