Surprisingly, this app is causing nearly 50% of macOS malware — delete now

Fox News ^ | 12-26-22 | Kurt Knutsson

[OrangeHoof]

But I thought Macs never got malware or viruses. :P

[drSteve78]

And need to add or edit, because you remembered something just after hitting Post

[drSteve78]

Always assume that someone is watching.

KNOW that someone is watching.

[moovova]

MacCrapper

[Dr. Sivana]

But I thought Macs never got malware or viruses. :P

The irony is that in the late '80s through early '90s there were FAR more Mac Viruses than PC viruses, mainly because Mac users shared floppies more (pre-web), and because of the ease of writing Mac viruses. Many of them were minor WDEF, if I recall, could be defeated by rebuilding the desktop. nVir was a bit worse. Can't forget the numerous Word Macro viruses. Macs were very popular on college campuses then, so spread happened through sneaker net (I personally kept the server clean).

Virex (regular updates through mailed flopplies) and PC-cillin (best free solution) were part of my life in those days.

[Ronin]

I’m a long-time Mac user that was lucky enough to be warned away from MacKeeper years ago. It’s horrible! I have never heard anyone claim it has done any good at all. The amazing thing is that it’s still around after all these years of bad performance and horrible reviews.

[BobL]

“All I know is I have been using Macs for over 15 years without a single incident. I had plenty of issues with my Windows machines.”

I know, I just remember seeing arrogant posts by Mac users (maybe not even here) thinking they were immune from PC issues, because they ‘flew under the radar’ or ‘Macs were immune’. Obviously that wouldn’t last, and hasn’t.

Kind of like the Neocons thinking that the weapons we ended the Cold War with 37 years ago can still, easily, defeat Russia and China (and thus we can now take on the world), and simply REFUSING to even consider that those countries, who have fielded hypersonics, may not, necessarily, agree.

...and don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind taking on the world, but if we need to, I prefer we have a chance at actually winning (and that concept seems to elude Neocons).

[jacknhoo]

Kind of like Norton AntiVirus. The closer you you got to your renewal, the more attacks they let through on you. I had to completely rebuild my computer operating system and reinstall all of the software I purchased with the laptop several times while running Norton. One I got away from Norton, I’ve never had a single problem since.

[Borderline]

MacKeeper has always been a scam. I’m surprised it is still around, seems like it was so many years ago I was helping customers remove it from their systems - removal being tougher than just dumping the app in the trash...

[martin_fierro]

Yeah, it’s long been known to be malware. Absolute crap.

[daniel1212]

What's malware?

While safer on desktops, Linux as Android has seen many infections, but overall it is almost always the fault of the user, and his "driving" habits. Likewise, 83% of all Windows malware threats, or roughly 92.3 million, were discovered on consumer computers, while 15%, or 16.7 million, were discovered on business systems And since according to one report, 95 percent of cybersecurity breaches are caused by human error, and as Linux desktop users as a class are likely more tech savy and more skillful (at least years ago) then even among desktop users they would be less prone to infections than your average Windows user on that basis alone, in addition to Linux being more secure.

Researchers at Check Point examined cyberattacks in the first half of 2019 and found that those targeting smartphones and other mobile devices have risen by 50% compared with last year”. - Mobile malware attacks are booming in 2019: These are the most common threats

Research showed a 500% increase in mobile Malware in 2022 and also an 80% increase in banking malware attacks on Android devices; this is high and calls for mobile defense.” - Mobile Malware is Increasing Rapidly: Steps to Reduce your Risk

Analysis based on the malware threat statistics by a threat intelligence platform AV-TEST Gmb based in Germany, found that "the number of new Linux malware reached record highs in the first half of 2022, as nearly 1.7 million samples were discovered. Compared to the same period last year, when 226,324 samples were found, new Linux malware numbers soared by close to 650%.... the cumulative number of new Linux malware samples in H1 2022 was 31% higher than the number of such samples in the whole year of 2021...Although Linux was the only operating system that saw growth in new malware samples in the first half of this year, Windows had the most significant number of new malware applications overall. "

Note that "the most significant number" must be objectively understood relative to the number of users on the platforms installed on it, in which for Windows is desktops and laptops in which is clearly predominates, thus having the most significant number is not surprising, versus mobile devices, where Windows was judged well in security. Linux desktops are not much of a target since users of such make up a very small market of such, and require more input to install apps.

Yet in testing [at the time], Microsoft Defender scored 9.6, which is better than any other free product tested with this same sample set, doing better or equal to at that time in 2022 than some of its free "heavyweight rival programs like those from Avast, AVG, and Malwarebytes."

But if the issue is that of what the safest OS is - or was in 2019 and 2020 - then Mac/Apple users can argue for their OS, since this report states “Devices that run on Android – a platform that supports sideloading – have an estimated 15 to 47 times more infections from malware than iPhone, according to Nokia’s “Threat Intelligence Reports 2019 and 2020.” And this compilation reported iOS accounts for under 1% of infections. 47% of free Android antivirus programs can’t properly detect malware. Meanwhile I have LM installed on SSD in older a home built here (16GB Ram; 4.2Ghz Cpu ,thank God), yet Linux Mint looks (actually it does not show it) this USB WiFi Adapter AC600Mbps with Wi-Fi Antenna for Laptop Desktop PC,Dual Band 5.8G/2.4Ghz Wireless Network Adapters Compatible OS with Windows XP/Vista/ 7/ 8.1 /8 /10 / and Mac Os X 10.6 -10.15 Return or replace items: Eligible through January 31, 2023 USB Wifi adapter and does not know to install it.

Not the first time. In contrast, I cannot remember the last time I needed to do anything except allow it to install any HW in Windows, and thus device is immediately enabled and show in Device Manager (I see no default Linux equivalent):

[Pollard]

Keep off sites that promise free stuff that’s illegal. Free retail software etc.

[TheBattman]

Ancient history - AS many have stated- Swordmaker and many of us have warned about this piece of malware for literal years. Seems rather odd that Fox is just now noticing - since every significant tech publication has also warned about this piece of crap.

So your drivel is pretty juvenile (at best).

[BobL]

“So your drivel is pretty juvenile (at best).”

Probably the case, since it was decades ago that I heard that silly claim about Apple.

[daniel1212]

Keep off sites that promise free stuff that’s illegal. Free retail software etc.

Indeed. And esp. porn and gambling sites as well, and be wary of email links and attachments. And the free MVPS HOSTS includes entries for most major parasites, hijackers and unwanted Adware/Spyware programs though I edits it somewhat in order to get thru to some rated shopping items. Thank God for all the helps.

Liberalism and false gospels are like malware.