Mac computers have typically been known to not have as many malware/virus issues compared to Windows. This isn’t to say that the OS X platform built by Apple is invulnerable, it’s just that there aren’t as many viruses or malware that have targeted Mac computers over the years. However as Apple’s computers become more popular, so have malware that targets the platform.
According to a report from BleepingComputer (via BGR) which summarized the findings from Bit9 and Carbon Black, it seems that 2015 is the most prolific year as far as Mac malware is concerned. For example they found that from 2010-2014, there was about 180 instances in which malware for Mac was discovered. This is versus the whopping 948 instances found in 2015 alone and we haven’t even reached the end of the year.
While this is no doubt a huge jump, it seems that not everyone is too worried about it. According to Network World who quoted Rich Mogull, an analyst with Securiosis in Phoenix, Arizona, “If you put all of the Mac malware that we’ve seen, and you combine those numbers for the history of OS X, basically it is less by a significant amount than the amount of Windows malware you will see in an hour.”
It should also be noted that not every piece of malware found is extremely dangerous as some will be a lot harder to install as they might need very specific scenarios, but we suppose at the end of the day, it certainly does seem like malware targeting Macs is on the rise, something that Apple should definitely take into consideration in future OS X builds.