According to the latest report published by Malwarebytes, a company that makes antivirus available for both Mac and Windows, the threats detected throughout 2019 that affect Apple Macs have increased compared to previous years.
According to Malwarebytes, of the 25 most important threats that have been detected in 2019, 6 of them are found on Macs, which represents 16 of the total detections. This number is significant as your Mac antivirus user base is 1/12 the size of your Windows user base.
For the first time, malware designed for Mac has been among the 5 most detected threats, occupying the second and fifth position of the classification and that responds to the name of NewTab and PUP.PCVARK.
NewTab accounts for 4% of total detections on all platforms and is an adware that uses browser extensions to modify the content of web pages, and it is only found in Chrome (one more reason not to use this browser in macOS). It cannot be installed on Safari because Apple's browser extensions are only available from the Mac App Store.
In fifth position, we find the PUP.PCVARK malware, responsible for 3% of the total detections. This malware is a set of programs for Mac that the user has not installed intentionally (PUP stands for potentially unwanted program).
Malwarebytes claims that malware on Mac is on the riseAlthough the type of malicious programs that generally affect this ecosystem are mainly adware and programs that are installed without our permission. There are other types of malicious programs that can infect your computer, but they are more limited in scope and are unlikely to affect large numbers of Mac users.