Another scam was the DNSChanger malware that affected millions of PC systems worldwide, and which ultimately directed affected systems to malicious Web sites, and like the MacDefender malware tried to get people to offer personal information. This scam morphed quite rapidly as it tried to avoid detection and continue coercing people to offer personal information. One of the first was the MacDefender fake antivirus scam, which had people issuing credit card information out of fear their systems were infected. Today, that share is close to 20%.While OS X was relatively void of malware for the first 10 years of use, recently malware scares have cropped up that have affected a significant number of Mac systems. Such reports suggest that malware developers are serious about targeting Apple computers, both old and new-a move that is not surprising, considering that Apple has increased its market share in recent years-just 10 years ago, barely 6% of computers were from Apple. In response to the report by Wardle, Wired magazine is reporting that other security companies have also found malware written for M1 machines. Though not confirmed as yet, such malware also typically records IP address, search histories and site visits. In looking at the malware, Wardle found it to be standard adware-once installed, it bombards the user with ads, banners, surveys and other nefarious promotions. He also notes that the app was signed with an Apple developer ID dated to last November, which has since been revoked-without it, targeted computers would not let the malware install itself. He suggests this indicates that antivirus software for the new Mac computers is likely not yet able to find and delete the malware.

He noted that software on the platform had previously flagged x86 based-versions of the malware (all part of the Pirrit family of malware) but it had not yet discovered the M1 version. It had been uploaded as recently as this past December. Wardle found a Safari web browser extension called GoSearch22 on an antivirus testing platform.

Now, it appears that malware writers are making the jump over to M1-based machines, as well. For applications to run faster on M1 based computers, they need to be rewritten-the old applications have to be run through a translator called Rosetta 2, which slows things down. Unfortunately, such improvements have been slow coming. When announcing the change, Apple claimed that the new chipsets would allow their computers to run faster.

Moving to the M1 chipset was a big change for Apple-the company has been using Intel x86 based chips in its computers since 2005.

How to detect malware on macbook pro