Why Security Leaders Can’t Ignore macOS Anymore

TL;DR

• macOS is now a prime target with its market share up 60% in three years. macOS threats rose 400% YoY (2023–2024), with infostealers up 101% in late 2024.
• Enterprise exposure is real with approximately 23% of US enterprise endpoints being macOS; large orgs (e.g., IBM) run fleets of 200,000+ Macs.
• Detection gap on Macs: Most EDR/SIEM/MDR rules and analyst playbooks are tuned for Windows, reducing efficacy on macOS even when tools claim coverage.
• Mac attacks look different: Adversaries use EPPC and SSH for lateral movement, Launch Agents/Daemons for persistence, Gatekeeper bypasses and TCC weaknesses for evasion, and target Keychain/sudo for credentials.
• Lower barrier to entry: MaaS for macOS is now relatively cheap (~$1.5k/month) and augmented by widely available AI tools.
• Validate, don’t assume: Organizations must specifically test detective controls against macOS TTPs rather than relying on Windows-optimized logic.
• NetSPI’s solution: A macOS Simulation Pack and 60+ self-service plays validate visibility and alerting across discovery, file access, lateral movement, persistence, evasion, and credential access—mapped to MITRE ATT&CK for clear gap tracking.
• Next step: Proactively assess and tune macOS detections; request a demo of NetSPI’s macOS Simulation Pack to close the blind spot.

Exploring a Critical Blind Spot

For years, macOS held a reputation as more secure, “Macs don’t get viruses,” was accepted by many. Confident that their Mac endpoints represented minimal risk, security teams focused their detection and response capabilities almost entirely on Windows and Linux environments. Unfortunately, that era is definitively over.

Today’s threat landscape tells a different story. According to SecurityOnline, macOS market share has surged 60% over the past three years, and cybercriminals have taken notice. Red Canary observed a 400% increase in macOS threats from 2023 to 2024, with no signs of slowdown. Infostealers were identified as the largest group of new macOS malware, having increased by 101% in the last two quarters of 2024 according to AppleInsider.

The business implications are significant. In the United States, macOS devices now represent approximately 23% of enterprise endpoints, and large organizations like IBM have deployed over 200,000 macOS devices across their workforce.

These stats create the question for security leaders: Are your controls actually detecting threats on nearly a quarter of your endpoints?

The macOS Detection Gap

Most organizations have invested heavily in detective controls such as endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions, security information and event management (SIEM) platforms, managed detection and response (MDR) services, and network monitoring tools. These systems work together to identify malicious activity, generate alerts, and enable rapid response to security incidents.

However, these controls are often optimized for Windows-based threats. Detection rules, correlation logic, and alerting thresholds are tuned based on Windows attack patterns, while security analysts develop expertise around Windows indicators of compromise.

The reality is that macOS attacks look different. Threat actors targeting Mac systems use different tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs). They exploit macOS-specific features like Endpoint Security Private Protocols (EPPC) for lateral movement, leverage macOS-native persistence mechanisms, and abuse credential access methods unique to the Apple ecosystem. If your detective controls aren’t specifically validated against these Mac-focused attack patterns, you’re operating with a blind spot that potentially covers a substantial portion of your environment.

Understanding macOS-Specific Threats

Modern macOS attacks span the MITRE ATT&CK framework, adapted for Apple’s ecosystem. Attackers conduct reconnaissance using both local enumeration and Active Directory discovery techniques specific to macOS implementations. They move laterally through Mac-heavy environments using EPPC and Secure Shell (SSH) rather than Windows-centric protocols like Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) or Server Message Block (SMB).

Persistence mechanisms on macOS also differ fundamentally from Windows. Threat actors leverage Launch Agents, Launch Daemons, and macOS-specific startup mechanisms that Windows-focused detection rules won’t catch. Defense evasion techniques exploit macOS features like Gatekeeper bypasses, code signing vulnerabilities, and transparency, consent, and control (TCC) framework weaknesses.

Credential access on macOS targets the Keychain, exploits sudo vulnerabilities, and abuses macOS authentication frameworks in ways that look nothing like Windows credential theft. File system access patterns differ significantly, and the logging mechanisms available for detection aren’t identical to Windows event logs that most SIEM solutions are optimized to consume.

The barrier to entry for Mac-focused attacks has also decreased dramatically. Malware-as-a-Service (MaaS) subscriptions that previously cost tens of thousands of dollars can now be acquired for as little as $1,500 per month. Free and low-cost AI tools can also be (and have been) leveraged in recent attacks, putting sophisticated macOS attack capabilities within reach of less skilled threat actors.

NetSPI’s macOS Simulation Pack

This is why NetSPI has introduced a comprehensive macOS Simulation Pack as part of the Detective Controls Testing offering, and over 60 self-service macOS plays through complimentary Attack Simulation capabilities. NetSPI Detective Controls Testing service provides organizations with real-time validation of their detective controls against macOS-specific attack patterns, executed by security professionals who understand both offensive tactics and detection engineering.

During testing, NetSPI works directly with your security team to execute TTPs that simulate real-world Mac-focused attacks. NetSPI’s security experts execute specific techniques, monitor controls to understand visibility levels, and educate clients on the TTPs being executed and the detection opportunities unique to each, building organizational knowledge alongside technical validation.

The test plan includes comprehensive coverage across critical threat categories:

• Discovery techniques including local and Active Directory reconnaissance
• File system access events that should generate alerts
• Lateral movement via EPPC and SSH
• Persistence mechanisms specific to macOS
• Defense evasion tactics that exploit macOS features
• Credential access and command execution patterns

Every finding includes direct mappings to MITRE ATT&CK technique IDs within the NetSPI Platform, making it easy to track coverage, identify gaps, and prioritize remediation efforts within your existing security stack.

The Path Forward

As macOS continues to gain enterprise market share and threat actors increasingly target Mac endpoints, the security blind spot around macOS detective controls becomes more dangerous. Organizations cannot afford to assume their Windows-optimized detection capabilities will effectively identify Mac-focused threats, especially if they are not validated and tuned for their specific environment.

To learn more about validating your detective controls against macOS-specific threats, request a demo of NetSPI’s macOS Simulation Pack.