As the phenomenon of furtive cryptocurrency mining splashed onto the scene and took the world by storm, computer botnets underwent an apropos evolution. Rather than bolster spam campaigns spreading ransomware, they are now leveraged to combine numerous zombified machines into a huge Monero mining pool.

When decentralized digital currencies entered the scene, online payments made a huge step forward due to small transaction fees and a higher degree of privacy delivered by the cryptographic layer. As things started booming in this ecosystem, cybercriminals managed to find and occupy their own niche in it. Surreptitious mining of cryptocurrency is at the forefront of these shenanigans, and it is steadily rising on the Mac arena these days.

Compared to previous status quo on the cyber-threat landscape, online crooks are apparently taking their perpetrating activities a notch further as a new Ransomware-as-a-Service platform called MacRansom is underway. This malign framework is intended to make extortion through crypto malware as common for Macs as it is for Windows. The shady affiliate model in question allows would-be criminals to distribute viable Mac ransomware without investing any intellectual efforts in development.

By rolling out the iOS 10.3 update in late March 2017, Apple has addressed a massive outbreak of Safari Mobile scareware, where iOS users would be blocked from using the browser due to a persistent hijack. Victims were confronted with recurrent redirects to legit-looking pages that displayed misleading “Cannot Open Page” popups and demanded money to remove the blocking.

The robustness of Apple’s security architecture for both their desktop and mobile platforms has prevented intruders from compromising the company’s customers on a large scale. And yet, some incidents do pop up once in a while. A group of black hat hackers claim to have gained access to hundreds of millions of accounts belonging to Apple clients.

Seeking additional profit and invading new niches for their foul business, cybercriminals have ventured to target the traditionally deemed virus-proof Mac OS X. The malicious instrument being utilized for this campaign is called the FBI Cyber Department MoneyPak virus which hijacks Safari browser and displays false accusations in an attempt to extort a fine from victims. This article provides tips on how to avoid paying the ransom and get rid of this particular malware.