{"id":142921,"date":"2025-03-19T03:51:49","date_gmt":"2025-03-19T03:51:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/apple-2\/should-you-be-worried-and-what-protective-steps-should-you-take-macs-tech-notes\/"},"modified":"2025-03-19T03:51:49","modified_gmt":"2025-03-19T03:51:49","slug":"should-you-be-worried-and-what-protective-steps-should-you-take-macs-tech-notes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=142921","title":{"rendered":"Should You Be Worried, and What Protective Steps Should You Take? ~ Mac&#8217;s Tech Notes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div style=\"background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, georgia, &quot;times new roman&quot;, serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 30px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;\">\n<p>\n<span style=\"background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;\">Malware makes headlines regularly these days, and although Macs are targeted far less than Windows PCs, Mac users still need to remain vigilant. A particularly serious type of malware is called \u201cransomware\u201d because once it infects your computer, it encrypts all your files and holds them for ransom.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\n<span style=\"background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;\">Luckily, despite the virulence of ransomware in the Windows world, where there have been major infections of CryptoWall and WannaCry, only a few pieces of ransomware have been directed at Mac users:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul style=\"background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 23px 1em; vertical-align: baseline;\">\n<li style=\"background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;\"><span style=\"background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;\">The first, called\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/securelist.com\/unfinished-ransomware-for-macos-x\/66760\/\" style=\"background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2ea3f2; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;\">FileCoder<\/a><span style=\"background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;\">, was discovered in 2014. When security researchers looked into its code, they discovered that it was incomplete, and posed no threat at the time.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;\"><span style=\"background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;\">The first fully functional ransomware for the Mac appeared in 2016, a bit of nastiness called\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/researchcenter.paloaltonetworks.com\/2016\/03\/new-os-x-ransomware-keranger-infected-transmission-bittorrent-client-installer\/\" style=\"background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2ea3f2; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;\">KeRanger<\/a><span style=\"background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;\">. It hid inside an infected version of the open source Transmission BitTorrent client and was properly signed so it could circumvent Apple\u2019s Gatekeeper protections. As many as 6500 people may have been infected by KeRanger before Apple revoked the relevant certificate and updated macOS\u2019s XProtect anti-malware technology to block it.\n<div style=\"background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5720 alignnone\" data-attachment-id=\"5720\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"KeRanger-message\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/tcn.tidbits.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/KeRanger-message.png\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/tcn.tidbits.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/KeRanger-message-300x219.png\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/tcn.tidbits.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/KeRanger-message.png\" data-orig-size=\"615,448\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/tcn.tidbits.com\/ransomware-should-you-be-worried-and-what-protective-steps-should-you-take\/keranger-message\/\" height=\"365\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 501px) 100vw, 501px\" src=\"https:\/\/tcn.tidbits.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/KeRanger-message.png\" srcset=\"https:\/\/tcn.tidbits.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/KeRanger-message.png 615w, https:\/\/tcn.tidbits.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/KeRanger-message-300x219.png 300w\" style=\"background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; margin: 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;\" width=\"501\"\/><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;\"><span style=\"background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;\">In 2017, researchers discovered another piece of ransomware, called\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.welivesecurity.com\/2017\/02\/22\/new-crypto-ransomware-hits-macos\/\" style=\"background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2ea3f2; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;\">Patcher<\/a><span style=\"background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;\">, which purported to help users download pirated copies of Adobe Premiere and Microsoft Office 2016. According to its Bitcoin wallet, no one had paid the ransom, which was good, since it had no way of decrypting the files it had encrypted.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\n<span style=\"background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;\">Realistically, don\u2019t worry too much. But it\u2019s likely that malware authors will unleash additional Mac ransomware packages in the future, so I encourage you to be aware, informed, and prepared.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\n<span style=\"background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;\">First, let me explain a few key terms and technologies. Apple\u2019s\u00a0<\/span><i style=\"background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;\">Gatekeeper<\/i><span style=\"background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;\">\u00a0technology protects your Mac from malware by letting you launch only apps downloaded from the Mac App Store, or those that are signed by developers who have a Developer ID from Apple. Since malware won\u2019t come from legitimate developers (and Apple can revoke stolen signatures), Gatekeeper protects you from most malware. However, you can override Gatekeeper\u2019s protections to run an unsigned app. Do this only for apps from trusted developers. Even if you never override Gatekeeper, be careful what you download.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\n<span style=\"background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;\">Apple\u2019s\u00a0<\/span><i style=\"background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;\">XProtect<\/i><span style=\"background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;\">\u00a0technology takes a more focused approach, checking every new app against a relatively short list of known malware and preventing apps on that list from launching. Make sure to leave the \u201cInstall system data files and security updates\u201d checkbox selected in System Preferences &gt; App Store. That ensures that you\u2019ll get XProtect updates. Similarly, install macOS updates and security updates soon after they\u2019re released to make sure you\u2019re protected against newly discovered vulnerabilities that malware could exploit.<\/span><\/p>\n<div style=\"background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; vertical-align: baseline;\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" class=\"aligncenter  wp-image-5719\" data-attachment-id=\"5719\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"App-Store-prefs-XProtect\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/tcn.tidbits.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/App-Store-prefs-XProtect-1024x433.png\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/tcn.tidbits.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/App-Store-prefs-XProtect-300x127.png\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/tcn.tidbits.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/App-Store-prefs-XProtect.png\" data-orig-size=\"1338,566\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/tcn.tidbits.com\/ransomware-should-you-be-worried-and-what-protective-steps-should-you-take\/app-store-prefs-xprotect\/\" height=\"236\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 559px) 100vw, 559px\" src=\"https:\/\/tcn.tidbits.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/App-Store-prefs-XProtect-1024x433.png\" srcset=\"https:\/\/tcn.tidbits.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/App-Store-prefs-XProtect-1024x433.png 1024w, https:\/\/tcn.tidbits.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/App-Store-prefs-XProtect-300x127.png 300w, https:\/\/tcn.tidbits.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/App-Store-prefs-XProtect-768x325.png 768w, https:\/\/tcn.tidbits.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/App-Store-prefs-XProtect-1080x457.png 1080w, https:\/\/tcn.tidbits.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/App-Store-prefs-XProtect.png 1338w\" style=\"background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;\" width=\"559\"\/><\/div>\n<div style=\"background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; vertical-align: baseline;\">\n<span style=\"background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;\">Also consider running anti-malware software like\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.malwarebytes.com\/mac\/\" style=\"background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2ea3f2; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;\">Malwarebytes<\/a><span style=\"background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;\">\u00a0or\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/antivirus-mac-internet-security\" style=\"background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2ea3f2; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;\">Mac Internet Security X9<\/a><span style=\"background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;\">. That\u2019s not absolutely necessary, like anti-malware solutions are for Windows, but doing so can provide peace of mind, particularly if you regularly visit sketchy parts of the Internet or download dodgy software.<\/span><\/div>\n<div style=\"background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; vertical-align: baseline;\">\n<span style=\"background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;\">Although regular backups with Time Machine are usually helpful, KeRanger tried to encrypt Time Machine backup files to prevent users from recovering their data that way. Similarly, a bootable duplicate updated automatically by\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shirt-pocket.com\/SuperDuper\/\" style=\"background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2ea3f2; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;\">SuperDuper<\/a><span style=\"background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;\">\u00a0or\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/bombich.com\/\" style=\"background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2ea3f2; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;\">Carbon Copy Cloner<\/a><span style=\"background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;\">\u00a0could end up replacing good files with encrypted ones from a ransomware-infected Mac, or a future piece of ransomware could try to encrypt other mounted backup disks as well.<\/span><\/div>\n<div style=\"background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;\">\n<span style=\"background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;\">The best protection against ransomware is a versioned backup made to a destination that can be accessed only through the backup app, such as an Internet backup service like\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.backblaze.com\/\" style=\"background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2ea3f2; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;\">Backblaze<\/a><span style=\"background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;\">\u00a0(home and business),\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crashplan.com\/\" style=\"background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2ea3f2; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;\">CrashPlan<\/a><span style=\"background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;\">\u00a0(business only) or my favorite, <a color:=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.carbonite.com\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"color: #3d85c6;\">Carbonite<\/span><\/a> (home and business). The beauty of such backups is that you can restore files from before the ransomware encrypted them. Of course, that assumes you\u2019ve been backing up all along.<\/span><\/div>\n<div style=\"background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; vertical-align: baseline;\">\n<span style=\"background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;\">If you ever are infected with ransomware, don\u2019t panic, and don\u2019t pay the ransom right away. Contact me so I can help you work through your options, which might entail restoring from a backup or bringing files back from older cloud storage versions. There are even\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/noransom.kaspersky.com\/\" style=\"background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2ea3f2; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;\">descriptors<\/a>\u00a0for some Windows ransomware packages, and such utilities might appear for hypothetical Mac ransomware as well.<\/span><\/div>\n<p>\n<span style=\"background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;\">To reiterate, there\u2019s no reason to worry too much about ransomware on the Mac, but letting Apple\u2019s XProtect keep itself up to date, staying current with macOS updates, and using an Internet backup service will likely protect you from what may come.<\/span><br \/><b style=\"background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;\"\/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Malware makes headlines regularly these days, and although Macs are targeted far less than Windows PCs, Mac users still need to remain vigilant. A particularly serious type of malware is called \u201cransomware\u201d because once it infects your computer, it encrypts all your files and holds them for ransom. Luckily, despite the virulence of ransomware in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":142922,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11768],"tags":[16446,388,2140,2962,5107,24716],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-142921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-apple-2","tag-macs","tag-notes","tag-protective","tag-steps","tag-tech","tag-worried"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Should You Be Worried, and What Protective Steps Should You Take? ~ Mac&#039;s Tech Notes - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=142921\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Should You Be Worried, and What Protective Steps Should You Take? ~ Mac&#039;s Tech Notes - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Malware makes headlines regularly these days, and although Macs are targeted far less than Windows PCs, Mac users still need to remain vigilant. 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