First Ransomware Attack Targeting Mac OS X

There has been a long-standing rumor that Macs are immune to viruses and now, someone has proven Macs can be infected. The word is out in CNET’s article: “Apple users beware: First live ransomware targeting Macs found 'in the wild”. What does this mean for Apple users? Has something changed within the Mac OS X and do they need to do anything different?

Rumors

To answer these questions, let’s start by exploring the rumor of Mac is immune. This rumor has been around for a long time. I believe it was five years ago when my father told me that a sales person at a big box retailer told him this “fact.” At that time I knew it wasn’t exactly true and I did a little digging as into why and now I am re-exploring the same issue. Five years ago, How-To Geek published an article: Online Safety: Who Says Macs Don’t Get Viruses?  In this article they site three possible reasons why the Mac OS X is less-prone to viruses:

1. Market share – In 2011, Windows users greatly outnumbered Mac users as illustrated in this very interesting chart from How-to Geek  www.howtogeek.com/76628/online-safety-who-says-macs-dont-get-viruses/
2. Time and effort – Being there were more PCs on the market in 2011, more was known about them and less research was needed by an attacker. “Security by minority” according to How-To Geek.
3. Short list of viruses – in this article, they state in 2008, there were less than 200 pieces of malware targeting Apple. I will note that their source for this information is no longer available, so take this number with a grain of salt.

Ransomware Attack

As we have seen from recent news, number three above may not hold true for long. The list of viruses targeting Macs is starting to grow. One such virus is a type called ransomware. If you are unfamiliar with what ransomware does, it infects your computer and locks all of your files. It will then send you to a screen stating that if you want to access your computer again, you will need to pay a certain amount of money to do so. They also typically give you a quick deadline (before they erase your files) to respond by in order to increase the pressure to pay. It is hard to trace as they will use currency like bitcoins to collect the ransom. If infected, there is not much you can do. There are sites now combating the ransomware virus which publish a list of codes which have been given to unlock files that are held hostage. If one of the published ones works, you are in luck, if not, you might have to pay or forgo your files.

Why Mac OS X and Why Now?

It was always a question of “when” and not “if” when it came to Macs becoming a target by viruses. Tech professionals have been saying for years that they knew it was possible, but it was a matter of when someone of a questionable nature was going to invest their time and resources to execute it.  Basically, someone took on the challenge of creating a ransomware that will work on the Mac OS X and succeeded. Nothing has changed within the OS and it is nothing that Apple did. So what does this mean going forward?

Safety tips

If you own a Mac and are concerned, there are some tips (adapted from Dan Kusnetzky at Virtualization Review) to help keep your data safe.

Awareness

Understand that you are vulnerable. You are already part of the way to making your Mac safe by reading this article. You have now read that there is a possibility that your Mac could become infected with a virus and you need to act upon this awareness.

Anti-virus software

Own it and keep it updated. It’s not 100% protection, but it will keep a lot of the pesky viruses at bay.

Proceed with caution

Watch the sites you visit and files you open. Sites that offer freeware or free games have a potential to have something nasty hanging onto that program. Only visit sites you know to be safe and do not download anything that you don’t know is 100% safe. I know this is sometimes difficult as you are surfing to gain knowledge on something and are following a never-ending list of links or are on social media and something peaks your interest. Social media is kind of nice as you can check comments to make sure others have had success accessing the site without issue. As for files you have emailed to you, make sure it is legit. If there are any extensions or strange characters in the name of the file, do not open.

Is Apple any less-safe than they were before? Not really. They have always been at risk, it’s just that someone has recently targeted them. Apple is still low as far as the number of viruses out there written for Mac OS X. The big issue is that if you think you are invincible, someone will challenge you on it.

Sources:

1. http://www.cnet.com/news/apple-users-beware-first-live-ransomware-targeting-mac-found-in-the-wild/
2. http://www.howtogeek.com/76628/online-safety-who-says-macs-dont-get-viruses/
3. http://venturebeat.com/2015/10/01/windows-10-grabs-6-63-market-share-linux-finally-passes-windows-vista/
4. https://virtualizationreview.com/articles/2016/04/25/ransomeware-can-happen-to-you.aspx