Hackers are now ten times more interested in Apple macOS than they were in 2019

[Gearbest News]Recently, foreign media reported that hackers are now more inclined to attack Apple's macOS operating system. According to an analysis of the dark web, the number of cyber attacks on Mac computers is now ten times that of 2019.

According to the report, although Mac as a special platform is not as numerous as Windows systems, macOS is not exempt from cyber attacks. If the analysis of dark web threat actors is accurate, the number of attacks has increased significantly in recent years. According to the Accenture Cyber ​​Threat intelligence report, there were only 202 darknet actors targeting macOS in 2019. But this number rose sharply to 2,143 in 2022, and 2,295 in 2023.

Activities performed by these actors on the dark web include the development and maintenance of “macOS-specific information stealer strains”, tools and services, the sale of macOS enterprise certificates for malware distribution, exploit development, macOS Gatekeeper bypass attacks and specific Malware strains for macOS.

Number of attacks on macOS

Part of the reason for the growing number of attacks targeting macOS is increased enterprise adoption of macOS, which also creates greater revenue for attacks. For example, from 2019 to 2020, Mac's share of enterprises increased from 17% to 23%. Accenture is very concerned about attackers with “large reach and large budgets” who are looking for ways to bypass macOS security features such as Gatekeeper and Transparency Consent and Control (TCC). Bypassing these macOS security protection tools can earn large rewards, and some participants are offering bounties of up to $500,000 for bypassing Gatekeeper and exploiting vulnerabilities.

Although actors attacking Windows and Linux have more options than macOS, the scarcity of macOS attacks means that their bounties are higher. According to Accenture, the rising trend of attacks against macOS will continue unabated in the future. “As increasingly technologically advanced and better-resourced hacking groups continue to invest time and money in developing attack vectors against macOS, the technologies and capabilities available to the broader darknet community also increase,” Accenture wrote.

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