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Ransomware Targeting macOS Devices Under Development

April 18, 2023

The Hacker News posted information about ransomware code being developed by the LockBit ransomware gang that targets Apple’s macOS devices. Apparently, the code has been available since early November 2022, but has evaded detection until now. The discovery was revealed via a tweet by the MalwareHunter Team which said, “As much as I can tell, this is the first Apple’s Mac devices targeting build of LockBit ransomware sample seen.” To further support the discovery, vx-underground posted released samples of the malware.

The ransomware is currently a work in progress and not an immediate threat to Apple users, although it is not a good sign that a major ransomware gang is targeting macOS users. Security researcher Patrick Wardle said, “While yes it can indeed run on Apple Silicon, that is basically the extent of its impact. Thus macOS users have nothing to worry about …for now!” As usual, a major threat is the human beings (users) clicking and launching things they shouldn’t.

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