I hope everyone reading this knows that Macs can get infected with malware just like PCs.

And I hope that all Mac users reading this blog know that they should (hopefully) run antivirus software on their Macs just like they do on their Windows PCs.

If you don’t, you’re barmy.

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Sure, Windows has far more malware than macOS (by orders of magnitude), but that doesn’t mean Macs are magically immune to threats.

If you’re running a Mac, it’s simply a case of far fewer arrows shooting in your direction.

But you can definitely become a cropper if you do anything reckless with your Mac.

For example, if you decide you don’t want to pay $300, Apple will charge you for the Mac version of Final Cut Pro.

Since you can’t afford to pay for internet-challenging video editing software, you might instead decide to see if you can download a pirated copy of Final Cut Pro from a torrent.

Don’t you like living in danger?

As Jamf security researchers have explainedThe Pirate Bay torrent, which claims to contain Final Cut Pro, is instead used to distribute cryptojacking malware to Macs.

If you download a pirated version of Final Cut Pro from a torrent, you will get a message during installation that the software is corrupted.

Final Cut Pro Corruption

But behind the scenes, your Mac is already covertly mining cryptocurrency on behalf of cybercriminals, gobbling up CPU cycles and giving computer fans a good workout.

lesson? Of course, you should always run up-to-date antivirus software, but it’s also wise to only install software from legitimate sources. This does not mean that you can install pirated software.

According to Jamf, those responsible for tainted Final Cut Pro torrents have uploaded a number of cryptocurrency-mining malicious payloads since 2019.

Did you find this article interesting? Follow Graham Cluley on Twitter again Mastodon To read more about the exclusive content we post.


Graham Cluley is a veteran of the antivirus industry and has worked for many security companies since the early 1990s when he created the first version of Dr. Solomon’s Antivirus Toolkit for Windows. He is now an independent security he is an analyst, makes regular media appearances and gives international lectures on computer he security, hackers and online he privacy. Follow him on Twitter. @gcluleyfor Mastodon @[email protected]or drop him an email.

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