macos malware years runonly avoid detection

#MACOS MALWARE YEARS RUNONLY AVOID DETECTION SOFTWARE#
#MACOS MALWARE YEARS RUNONLY AVOID DETECTION DOWNLOAD#
#MACOS MALWARE YEARS RUNONLY AVOID DETECTION MAC#

#MACOS MALWARE YEARS RUNONLY AVOID DETECTION SOFTWARE#

Securing an operating system against threats goes deeper than software it starts by securing the hardware. Before delving into any of those though, I should start by examining what Apple has built into the current macOS to protect its users and their data from harm. Other aspects of Apple’s hardware and software design legacy will be topics for future posts in this series. Historically, a contributing factor to Apple’s relative lack of malware was the comparatively small share Macs occupied in the overall personal computer market. As a trade-off though, the momentary diversion of granting access to an application to use your camera or microphone is preferable to an afternoon spent rooting out and removing spyware.

#MACOS MALWARE YEARS RUNONLY AVOID DETECTION MAC#

In order to maintain that security posture, Mac users are subjected to occasional interruptions and other minor inconveniences. That being said, Apple enjoys a significant advantage against Microsoft in the struggle to secure their respective platforms. There are worms, trojans, adware, PUPs, RATs, rootkits, macros-while my personal Mac has never been infected by any of these (knock on wood), I made a significant portion of my income as an IT consultant detecting, removing, and preventing such nasty things from taking root on my customers’ Macs. To be pedantic, most malware today, regardless of platform, doesn’t fit the definition of a virus.

#MACOS MALWARE YEARS RUNONLY AVOID DETECTION DOWNLOAD#

To keep yourself safe from such malware, make sure that you only download apps from trustworthy sources.Any long-time Mac user, and especially anyone who is used to managing Macs professionally will tell you that yes, Macs get malware. Now that OSAMiner has been detected and its complex architecture has been reverse engineered, it will help other researchers in finding any other hidden “run only” AppleScript malware. In the event that other threat actors begin picking up on the utility of leveraging run-only AppleScripts, we hope this research and the tools discussed above will prove to be of use to analysts. In this case, we have not seen the actor use any of the more powerful features of AppleScript that we’ve discussed elsewhere, but that is an attack vector that remains wide open and which many defensive tools are not equipped to handle. Run-only AppleScripts are surprisingly rare in the macOS malware world, but both the longevity of and the lack of attention to the macOS.OSAMiner campaign, which has likely been running for at least 5 years, shows exactly how powerful run-only AppleScripts can be for evasion and anti-analysis. SentinelOne noted that run-only AppleScripts are rarely used for macOS malware, but OSAMiner showed that they are incredibly powerful for malicious intents and can be used to remain hidden from detection: These “run-only” AppleScripts made it easier for OSAMiner to avoid detection over the years. When users downloaded the affected apps, an AppleScript would be downloaded which would run a second AppleScript, which would, in turn, download the third AppleScript. The malware has also evolved recently and has primarily targeted users in China and Asia-Pacific. OSAMiner has been active since 2015, secretly mining cryptocurrency on affected Macs. OSAMiner has been secretly mining cryptocurrency on affected Macs Disney+ announces $7.99 ad-supported tier and price hike for existing plans.

Macos malware years runonly avoid detection