So-called macOS Stealers – malware that seeks to extract personal data like passwords and credit card numbers from your machine – is expected to be significantly more prevalent this year.A new annual report on the state of malware says that Mac owners could be at almost as much risk as Windows PC users this year … Malwarebytes describes the growing security and privacy threat in its report.The report cites Poseidon and Atomic Stealer as examples.
In 2025, AI agents will be used to carry out a lot of the legwork for these attacks, meaning that they are likely to be carried out on an unprecedented scale.The company suggests that while Mac owners have historically been much safer than Windows PC users, the threat levels this year could be much closer.9to5Mac’s Take Malwarebytes is in the business of selling corporate defenses against malware attacks, so it’s to be expected that it will talk up the risks.
However, it’s certainly true that macOS Stealers have become a much bigger problem in the past year, and the use of autonomous AI agents to carry out attacks is a question of “when” rather than “if.” Most Mac malware relies on tricking users into installing it, so your best protection is to be very careful about where you source your Mac software.The Mac App Store is the safest place, followed by the websites of developers you trust.It shouldn’t even need saying, but pirate software sites are of course rife with malware.
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