Saint Security, a subsidiary of K-Sign, announced that malware for the Mac operating system is continuously increasing on malwares.com operated by the company.

Malwares.com is a malware collection and analysis platform that collects and analyzes domestic and foreign malware in real time and shares the information. As an open platform, anyone can request an analysis of malicious code and receive the analyzed result. Since it is linked/linked with various malicious code collection sources at home and abroad through API, it is easy to check domestic and foreign malware occurrence trends, including user analysis requests.

The Saint Security Intelligence team separately classified the malware for Mac collected from Malwares.com and released statistics. As a result, more than 27,000 cases were collected in October 2020, an increase of about 515% compared to the same month last year.



According to the Malwares.com analysis, most of the malicious codes were downloaded from cafes, social media, or Internet searches, rather than from official app stores. It was often installed disguised as a private paid app, and many forms of spyware, ransomware, and cryptocurrency mining malware were found.

“As the number of Mac users increases, the number of malicious codes targeting those users is also increasing significantly,” said CEO Kim Ki-hong of Saint Security. do,” he said.

The Mac operating system has very strict security settings. In the recently released 'Big Sur', the reliability of the software package and the separation of privileges are more difficult, so it is not easy to be infected with malicious code. However, as in the case recently analyzed, if malicious code disguised as some paid apps is installed on the PC without the user's knowledge, the settings that protect the PC become ineffective.

Saint Security urged special attention, saying that due to the hardware characteristics of Mac computers, they are often used as targets for cryptocurrency mining malware due to their high specifications.

In addition, Mac users must follow essential basic rules such as installing reliable software packages, periodic security checks, installing dedicated vaccines, and operating system patches, as well as installing security software to protect their PCs from the recent malware.