Contrary to popular belief, Macs are not immune to viruses. Apple brand computers are more and more targeted by hacker attacks which take advantage of their owner's confidence to make many victims. This is how the Shlayer virus, a Trojan horse, has been circulating for two years, affecting more than one in ten users according to the figures released on January 23 by the cybersecurity company Kaspersky.
30% of attacks against #macOS users now powered by #Shlayer Trojan. Detected in 2018 it now has 32K samples and 143 C&C server domains.
However this variant stands apart of it's cousins ⇒ https://t.co/2zYdcTbzOj pic.twitter.com/7bclbBgcpJ
The virus in circulation since early 2018 is masquerading as an update to Adobe's Flash player, software that lets you display multimedia content. Deceived, users do not hesitate to download the update. Unfortunately for them, it is actually malware like malware whose objective is to generate income by drowning their users' Internet browsers with advertisements and various links.
In two years, the virus has affected more than one in ten MacOS users, making Shlayer the most common virus on the Mac. This status is explained by the fact that the malware has successfully infiltrated many websites. Unfortunately, Shlayer is not limited to illegal sites, platforms on which Internet users are more careful. The malware has indeed infiltrated legal and even official websites, which allows it to spread more easily, as Internet users have more confidence in the pop-up windows that appear on these platforms.
A limited threat
"The macOS platform is a good source of income for cybercriminals, who are constantly looking for new ways to trick users. They use social engineering techniques to spread their malware. This case demonstrates that such threats can be found even on legitimate sites, "said one of Kaspersky's security analysts. He said, however, that Mac owners are "fortunately" more targeted by malware-like threats that display ads rather than more dangerous cyber attacks such as siphonage of personal data.
The United States, Germany, France and the United Kingdom are the countries most targeted by the Shlayer virus. Cybersecurity researchers recommend that users install updates only from trusted sources.
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