For the first time in the history of Apple Inc, a notorious ransomware-spreading gang seems to have shifted its focus to MacOS-loaded laptops. The LockBit Ransomware Group has now developed encryptors targeting Macs, thus extending their crimes from Windows, Linux, and VMware ESXi servers to Apple computers.
According to the analysis of MalwareHunterTeam, the encryption was found on a ZIP file on the database of VirusTotal, which offers cloud-based security services. Interestingly, the archive also contained encryptors for ARM, FreeBSD, MIPS, and SPARC CPUs. Apple Inc seems to be silent on this issue as it must first investigate and then release an assurance-filled statement that their devices are safe from ransomware attacks.
Coming to other news related to the Cupertino company, Chinese web search giant Baidu has threatened to file a lawsuit against the Steve Jobs-founded company over fake copies being circulated on its official app store in the name of the Ernie Bot app.
Technically speaking, Ernie is a mimic of Microsoft’s ChatGPT and is still functioning in beta version. But for the past 16 days, the Apple App Store and Google Play Store have been buzzing with the Ernie smart app, which is a conversational AI-powered bot used to answer anything and everything.
It works like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and is still in the testing phase. But some developers scraped the idea, developed an app with the same name, and released it on the play store, thus violating the intellectual property rights of the internet services-related company.
Issuing a public statement via the Baidu AI WeChat platform, the company warned all its users that any Ernie app available on the app stores respectively until it makes an official announcement. And that’s true!
What if the app is being circulated to spread malware, spyware, or espionage-related tools?
