Apple Mac computers are no longer safer from adware attacks than Windows computers. That’s the latest findings in a new report that further highlights the times have changed.
For a long time, Mac computers were always considered the significantly safer option. Many may still actually think that to be true although the figures from last year suggest things are very different in 2020 than they have been in the past. While it is difficult to pinpoint what exactly has changed over the years, an increase in Mac adoption, better protections coming to Windows, and just the evolving nature of threats are all possible contributing factors. Regardless of the reason, 2019 has now revealed some interesting findings that Mac users will want to be aware of.
In its latest State of Malware report, Malwarebytes explains 2019 saw a dramatic rise in Mac threats with more than a 400 percent year-over-year increase, compared to 2018. The anti-malware company considered whether the Mac-specific increase might have been the result of an increase in its user base, and to check decided to take a look at the threats per endpoint. The results showed that in 2019 there was an average of 11 threats per Mac endpoint and this compared to the 5.8 threats per endpoint on Windows. Not only was the threats per endpoint doubled, but it was also the first time ever that Macs had more detections per endpoint than Windows PCs. Of the different types of malware, Adware was the main issue for Mac users with the report noting 24 million Windows detections compared to 30 million Mac detections.
Should Mac users be worried?
This is not the first time a report has come through on the rise of Mac threats as the same company released one in December detailing the very same issue. However, the current report not only builds on the previous announcement, but provides a clearer look at what threats Mac computers are becoming most susceptible to. Those results did point to adware being the overriding and main concern, and therefore while the quantity of threats were higher, that’s not necessarily the same as the variety of threats.
Arguably, Mac users should be more worried than they were before. The times have changed and the landscape now requires more concern and awareness of threats in general. However, that’s not to say those users should be jumping ship to Windows anytime soon as while the data suggested 2019 was worse for Mac in terms of threats, it was hardly saying it was a great year for Windows either. The reality is threats are alive and well and those looking to take advantage of them will do so irrespective of the platform or device. On a minor positive note, the report explained that consumer threat detections were down 2 percent year-over year, with those behind malware preferring to target organizations over consumers.
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Source: Malwarebytes
