Friday, November 18, 2022 10:19 am2 Comments

Elastic Security Labs has recently released its 2022 Global Threat Report, which summarizes threat trends, forecasts, and recommendations for the cybersecurity industry today. According to the report, nearly 50% of all macOS malware only comes from one source: MacKeeper.

Study finds nearly 50% of macOS malware comes from one app: MacKeeper

Justin Luna for NeoWin:

Elastic Security Labs has recently released its 2022 Global Threat Report, which summarizes threat trends, forecasts, and recommendations for the cybersecurity industry today. According to the report, only 6.2% of malware ends up on macOS devices, compared to 54.4% and 39.4% on Windows and Linux, respectively. This is not surprising, given how Apple prioritizes security on their platform and the small desktop market share of macOS.

What is surprising, however, is that almost 50% of all macOS malware only comes from one source: MacKeeper. Ironically, MacKeeper is a program that advertises itself as a way to “keep your Mac clean and safe with zero effort.” But as Elastic explains, the program can be abused by threat actors because it has extensive permissions and access to processes and files. This means that a program designed to keep Macs secure from cyberthreats can put your system at risk.

While Elastic doesn’t go beyond this information, the program has an infamous history. For starters, MacKeeper is known for being difficult to completely uninstall. Many users have also tagged the program as a malicious antivirus. And in 2014, a lawsuit was filed against its former owner Zeobit, alleging that MacKeeper fakes virus detections to scare users into paying for unnecessary fixes.

MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote many years ago:

“Do not install MacKeeper. Certainly do not buy MacKeeper. If you have MacKeeper, uninstall it now.”

See also:
• MacKeeper scamware leaks 13 million Mac owners’ data, leaves passwords open to easy cracking – December 15, 2015
• Security researcher claims to have downloaded sensitive data from 13 million accounts of MacKeeper scamware app – December 14, 2015
• MacKeeper buyers ask for refunds in droves following class-action lawsuit – October 23, 2015
• MacKeeper customers can file a claim to get their money back – August 10, 2015
• Don’t waste your money on OS X snake oil for your Mac – July 28, 2015
• How to detect and remove MacKeeper and keylogger malware on your Mac – July 17, 2015
• Controversial MacKeeper security program opens critical hole on Mac computers – May 12, 2015
• What ‘MacKeeper’ is and why you should avoid it – January 21, 2015
• How to uninstall MacKeeper from your Mac – December 19, 2014

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