Apple’s computers have traditionally been less plagued by malware than PCs, but now a security firm has warned that hackers are taking aim at the Cupertino company’s computers with 25 varieties of malware.
Some of these are being used in targeted attacks, according to security company F-Secure.
F-Secure went public with its findings in its Threat Report H1 2014. It discovered the first 20 attacks in the first two months of this year.
“2014 started with almost 20 new unique variants discovered in the first two months alone, though this pace slowed later so that by the end of the H1 period, 25 new Mac threats had been found,” it writes.
“Among the new unique variants, 13 belong to five new families, with the Mask and Clientsnow being invoked in targeted attacks. The remaining new families – Coinstealer, Cointhief and Laoshu – affect normal Mac users.”
F-Secure’s senior security analyst Sean Sullivan told The Enquirer that most of the attacks targeted human rights activists.
Businesses were also targeted, though the lack of public comment on them suggests either they don’t know, or are unable to comment.
{pull quote}Apple's mobile devices are a lot safer, however, especially compared to Android{/pullquote}.
Of the 295 new mobile threats and variants discovered, 294 targeted Android. The one that did target iOS required the device to be jailbroken to work.
Apple admitted that the recent nude celebrity pictures leak did come from iCloud accounts being hacked, though it stressed they didn’t leak from its own servers. CEO Tim Cook also recently said Apple would be upping security on iCloud. It’s already started emailing customers when their iCloud account is accessed through a browser.
Read more: Celebrity iCloud hack puts Apple in eye of the storm
Source: The Inquirer