Apple macOS Ransomware Where Art Thou?

Ransomware is a serious business, as it technologically encapsulates a large part of the criminal element of blackmail and extortion for profit through the payment of ransom. Additionally, techniques evolve quickly and can be updated through its communication network at a moment’s notice. It can cripple an infrastructure in a matter of minutes and make data unavailable to its user base, as well as make sensitive and restricted data available to unauthorized parties to do what they wish with it. All without any type of immediate alert, where the consequences may not be seen for weeks or even years. Yes indeed, ransomware makes most organizational leaders shake in their boots, as most know they have a questionable perimeter, questionable cybersecurity practices, and users that click on just about everything.

In conversations, what some folks bring up is the Apple macOS space of macOS-based malware. Why doesn’t it seem as prevalent as Microsoft Windows attacks? Sure, we understand the market and Apple has a bit to go to catch up to the numbers in the personal computer space, especially in a corporate enterprise organization.

We’ll go through a list of capabilities ransomware is known for, isn’t widely known for, and the arena of where ransomware sits in the macOS space, as well as the concept of ransomware development and the future of ransomware on macOS.