Scareware Targets Macs — MacSweeper
MacSweeper marks the first time a rouge “cleaning tool” has been developed and targeted to Mac users, indicating the platform is gaining enough users that it is catching the attention of malicious code writers, according to security firm F-Secure.
Windows users should already be aware of the rogue antivirus products, which use pop-ups and/or fake ‘scans’ to produce a list of “problems” that sound really scary or important (thus the moniker “scareware) — if you purchase the product to ‘solve’ the issues, your problems have just begun.
This is simply a version targeting Mac users.
Here is a video from F-Secure explaining the details and methods used.
Yes, all you Apple fans.. it’s time to stop thinking you’re immune from hackers, cybercriminals, and malware.
Copyright 2007-9 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix
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• About Tech Paul
I am a Retired computer & network technician. I used to think the machines were pretty cool. Now I don’t.
They’re anything but.
I regularly posted how-to’s and tricks & tips and general computing advice here starting in 2007. (Use the Search tool to find answers. But be aware, many are rather dated.) Sometimes I answered (your) specific questions in an article if I believed the answer was generally helpful to “everyone”. All the writing you see was my own, typos and all. There always is/was an implied “IMHO” in what you see here.
Note: You are responsible for using this blog and its content. I am in no way liable for any losses caused by user error, viruses and/or other malware, hardware or software failure, or any other conceivable reason.
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No mac user is going to fall for this
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Raunchy,
I am very curious.. what makes you think that?
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Yes, Mac Users will definitely fall for this; unless you are really tech (Mac) savvy. I just had a relative (new Mac user) and she was led to believe that Macs are immune from viruses, malware, spyware, etc. I can see this relative falling for this due Macs’ have not been in the crosshairs for malware attacks. Nothing is immune from this crap, as Mac users are about to find out!
Thanks for bringing this important information to our attention.
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Actually, Macs have been hit before, and Safari was rather easily exploited — but this is an example of a scam using “social engineering”, and is not really a virus, worm, or “trojan”.
True malware which runs on OS X is still considered very rare “in the wild” (aka “on the Internet”) but the signs are there that Apple has reached a level of market share that places them “in the crosshairs” of those folks whose job it is to write the code that steals our money and hijacks our computers.
This is “news” now, but give it a year..
https://techpaul.wordpress.com/2009/01/25/do-you-need-av-on-a-mac/
On the subject of scams, conmen, and “social engineering”, I will just quote a rather noted man, “You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time..”
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I get so angry whenever I see that ad, SCAM!! I remember when they were selling “Stop Sign”. Bad enough selling somethig that can’t help, but installing. Spyware, maleware, and maybe Trojans or worse. What alphabet agency, FTC, FCC, BBB, or John Dvorak should we complain to?
Larry
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Yes.. FinallyFast, FastAtLast, and Stop-Sign have been featured here for the scams they are in several articles.. see https://techpaul.wordpress.com/2009/02/05/finallyfast-fastatlast-exposed/
If you have been the victim of Internet crime, you can file your complaint at the IC³ (Internet Crime Complaint Center).
Something needs to be done to police up the Internet, before it collapses completely.
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Hi Paul,
Most of the Rogue Security Software have been targeted at Windows users. This is the first time I have come across one targeted at Mac users.
The fight is going to get interesting.
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desinet1,
I predict that we will see much of what we are already familiar with.. simply “re-tooled” to appeal to Mac owners, and malware built with the Apple file system in mind.
The bad guy’s goals will be the same — theft.
The only reason we haven’t seen this stuff before is — until recently, 95% of the computers in the world were Windows.
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