A new report from researchers from the newly independent security firm McAfee LLC has found that Mac malware isn’t simply on the rise but skyrocketed 744 percent in 2016.

The report found that most of the 460,000 forms of Mac malware McAfee detected were adware, or software that exposes users to ads, with growth in the category rising 245 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016 alone. Most forms of adware annoy victims with ads versus doing any sort of serious damage and they are usually fairly simple to remove.

Adware aside, the researchers did find that more nefarious forms of Mac malware were also on the rise, as was seen with attacks such as OSX/InstallMiez, Fruitfly and more recently the Russian linked Xagent attack.

Overall the report noted that while the 460,000 forms of malware targeting Apple computers seems like a high number, Mac malware only makes up a small fraction of the staggering 630 million different forms of malware McAfee has now recorded.

Not surprising given its domination of the desktop market, malware targeting Microsoft Corp.’s Windows operating system is the most common form, but coming up from behind and more prevalent than Mac malware is that targeted at Google’s Android mobile operating system.

Internet of Things devices were also called out in the report, with McAfee noting that malware targeting the Internet-connected devices were also rapidly growing. “IoT devices are being hijacked and used to carry out serious crimes in cyberspace,” the report noted. “Attackers, after gaining control of IoT devices, can use them to attack business, consumers, or Internet infrastructure. The Mirai botnet is just the beginning.”

The report advises not only Mac users but users of all platforms to avoid downloading files from untrusted sources and also to install antivirus software as a minimum level of protection, and that includes Mac users as well.

Photo: iphonedigital/Flickr