Kaspersky warns of increasing attacks on Mac OS X

Our Bureau Updated - March 12, 2018 at 01:47 PM.

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Experts at Internet security solutions company Kaspersky have warned about increasing attacks on Mac OS X (operating system) in the next few months.

There are more than 10 crore Mac OS X users around the world.

“Until recently, Mac OS X malware was a limited category. This included trojans such as the Mac OS X version of DNSChanger and more recently, fake anti-virus, scareware attacks. In September 2011, the first versions of the Mac OS X trojan Flashback have appeared,” Mr Costin Raiu, an expert at Kaspersky Lab, said.

Though they didn't really become widespread until March 2012, data collected by Kaspersky show that there were about 7 lakh infected users in the first week of April.

The number could be still higher. “Although Mac OS X can be a very secure operating system, there are certain steps which you can take to avoid becoming a victim to this growing number of attacks,” he said.

“Increase in attacks is normal. The aim of virus writers is to get enough market share to guarantee a return-on-investment,” he said.

“During the next few months, we are probably going to see more attacks of this nature. The attackers would focus on exploiting outdated software and the user's lack of awareness.,” he said.

> kurmanath@thehindu.co.in

Published on April 11, 2012 16:25