A single virus is behind every fifth attack on Apple computers – News

Pirrit made wrinkles on the foreheads of security experts already in the first half of this year, for example in May its share among other threats to the macOS platform was a record 35.4%. But with the summer months came the cooling. In June, the share of Pirrit malicious code was only 13.1%, and in July even only 9.3%.

But he made himself known again in August, when his share was 16.4%. In September, it was even almost twice as much, exactly 28.9%. In October, the share of this uninvited visitor was only 20%, but it is still by far the most widespread threat that targets computers with a bitten apple logo.

People let this uninvited visitor into their device themselves. “Adware Pirrit is a classic representative of codes that display aggressive ads. Users usually download it to their devices themselves and voluntarily, often as part of other programs or games that the attackers offer in third-party stores or on various Internet repositories for free or in advantageous packages,” explained Jiří Kropáč, head of the Eset virus laboratory in Brno.

Malicious codes from the adware family annoy users by displaying excessive amounts of advertising. Many users therefore do not consider these malicious codes to be a real cyber threat, such as Trojan horses or extortion viruses.

“However, this may not pay off for them in the long run. Adware is difficult to detect on a device and usually only shows itself at the moment when the device has performance problems and work on it is unpleasant due to the amount of displayed advertising,” the security expert pointed out.

At the same time, he also pointed out other risks: “At the same time, adware can be a real risk to our privacy and our data throughout its presence – a highly sought-after commodity that is highly valued by cybercriminal groups. Users should therefore invest in quality security and thus properly protect their data.”