The report says macOS users are mainly troubled by adware; Windows users are vulnerable to ransomware attacks.

CTOnews.com, February 23, according to the latest report released by the network security company Malwarebytes, the network security risks faced by macOS and Windows users are different, and attackers have adopted different attack strategies for the two platforms.

Attackers have abandoned traditional "wide net" attacks such as embedding malicious macro code in Word documents or exploiting many vulnerabilities in Flash.

According to the report, macOS users mainly face attacks on "deceptive, complex and difficult-to-delete adware". 10% of the malware detected by Malwarebytes on the macOS platform comes from adware called OSX.Genio.

Like many types of adware, Genio hijacks users' browsers and uses it to inject their own ads into their search results.

Although technically adware, OSX.Genio behaves more like malware. It exploits system vulnerabilities to grant itself higher privileges; manipulates users' keychains; and installs browser extensions without consent.

The report points out that Windows users have been mainly attacked by blackmail software in recent years. In 2022 alone, 71% of companies were affected by ransomware, an increase of 10% over the previous year.

The most influential ransomware on the Windows platform in 2022 is LockBit, which accounts for 1/3 of ransomware as a service (RaaS) attacks.

Attackers do not need to develop their own blackmail software and launch attacks by purchasing RaaS services. If the attacker succeeds, they will return some of the money to the developer of the blackmail software.

CTOnews.com attached report original text: "The 5 most dangerous cyberthreats facing businesses this year"