14 DAY TRIAL // Since January 2014, there's been a boom in malware targeting Apple's operating systems, both its venerable Mac OS X and the newer iOS, Symantec informs us in one of its annual threat landscape reports.
The threats have not only grown in numbers, but they have also diversified, ranging from simple adware to security vulnerabilities used by state-sponsored APT groups trying to covertly infiltrate business and government networks.
The number of infected Macs has grown seven times when compared to 2014
The biggest spike in numbers has been recorded for Mac OS X malware, which had already been rising since 2010. The number of Mac malware grew by 29% in 2012, by 44% in 2013, and by 15% in 2014.
During 2015, while the number of malware families hasn't seen a dramatic rise, the number of infected computers grew in the first nine months seven times more than in the whole year of 2014.
The biggest spike in new infections was detected in the first three months of the year, reaching more than 65,000 Macs in March.
iOS devices aren't doing better
While things are looking gloomy for Mac users, iOS users aren't doing much better either. While, in 2013, Symantec didn't detect any new malware targeting iOS, the company found three new strands in 2014, and seven in the first nine months of 2015.
"Jailbroken devices are the focus of the majority of threats and, of the 13 iOS threats documented by Symantec to date, nine can only infect jailbroken devices," says Symantec's Dick O'Brien.
The attention Apple devices are getting is also reflected in the exploit market. This September, a company that discovers and sells software vulnerabilities to government agencies announced a bug bounty program for an Apple iOS 9 vulnerability. The company eventually paid $1 million / €0.93 million to an unnamed team of hackers.
For a full list of Mac OS X and iOS threats and more details about the security of Apple products, please refer to the "The Apple threat landscape" report from Symantec.
