New Mac Defender Variant, MacGuard, Doesn’t Require Password for Installation

Posting this as a heads up for MAC users...

blogs.inte go.com

Malware: OSX/MacDefender.F and OSX/MacDefender.G

Risk: Medium; effective SEO poisoning has led many Mac users to this type of malware, and no administrator password is required to install this new variant.

Description: On May 2, 2011, Intego discovered the MAC Defender fake antivirus, which targets Mac users via SEO poisoning attacks (web sites set up to take advantage of search engine optimization tricks to get malicious sites to appear at the top of search results). Since then, several variants have appeared: MacDefender, MacProtector and MacSecurity, all of which are the same application using different names. The goal of this fake antivirus software is to trick users into providing their credit card numbers to supposedly clean out infected files on their Macs.

Intego today discovered a new variant of this malware that functions slightly differently. It comes in two parts. The first part is a downloader, a tool that, after installation, downloads a payload from a web server. As with the Mac Defender malware variants, this installation package, called avSetup.pkg, is downloaded automatically when a user visits a specially crafted web site.

Not being a MAC user, does the IPad use a version of MAC OS.. and could the BOOM in Ipads be one of the reasons for this recent increase in MAC targeted malware?

It was only a matter of time IMO

The single most prominent reason MAC is "supposedly" free from threats, is the small amount of the market they hold..

The more popular they become, the more likely some Geeks somewhere will begin to write malicious code specifically for the MAC..

Solution?

Get a PC and properly protect it.. IMO of course...

Semper

It does (as does the iPhone) but you cant run Mac PC software on an iPad, different processor architecture.

reply to post by arriana


Thanks, but does this malware affect the phone/ pad and MAC computers in the same way?

As semper mentioned, MACs were fairly free from these attacks due to limited market share.. I am just wondering if this huge spike in portable tablets / internet capable phones, has the Apple share of the market now reached the level that their users must approach their security options more in line to what PC users have had to do for years?

Awww...

What are all those Mac users gonna do now ?
I know one thing they will do, shut the hell up about believing their OS is virus proof.

Originally posted by JacKatMtn
reply to post by arriana

 

Thanks, but does this malware affect the phone/ pad and MAC computers in the same way?

As semper mentioned, MACs were fairly free from these attacks due to limited market share.. I am just wondering if this huge spike in portable tablets / internet capable phones, has the Apple share of the market now reached the level that their users must approach their security options more in line to what PC users have had to do for years?

Like I said, mac software (which malware is) will not run on a iPad or iPhone, so it wont effect it in any way. Unless the mac PC software also effects iTunes, in which case they could install whatever they like to that too.

To be honest anyone that ignores PC security deserves what they get. My PC's all run Linux and I still lock them down.

reply to post by arriana


Thanks for the clarification...

reply to post by JacKatMtn


how do they get around the admin login with the firewall and admin lockdown in place? That's my real question....

I personally think "Growl" is a security risk as well for Mac's and we'll be hearing in the news down the road somebody figured out how to use it maliciously. Belkin for example already sneaks it onto your Mac.

Mac's ain't foolproof. Their bread and butter is that they hide whats on your system versus a Windows system would let you see what the heck is really going on.

Linux. Bootable from a CDROM so you run a virtual machine, rip your hard drive out and throw it away. Unhackable. Untrackable. No cookies can be stored.

Originally posted by semperfortis
It was only a matter of time IMO

The single most prominent reason MAC is "supposedly" free from threats, is the small amount of the market they hold..

The more popular they become, the more likely some Geeks somewhere will begin to write malicious code specifically for the MAC..

Solution?

Get a PC and properly protect it.. IMO of course...

Semper

STARRED!

About time someone said that

Apple will update the OS soon, according to this recent article..

Apple takes on Mac Defender Scam

After days of silence Apple is now addressing the high-profile virus that is threatening to ruin the pristine virus free world of the Mac OS.

"In the coming days, Apple will deliver a Mac OS X software update that will automatically find and remove Mac Defender malware and its known variants," the company stated. "The update will also help protect users by providing an explicit warning if they download this malware."

The company is fighting what security experts say may be the most pernicious types of computer virus to ever target its users.

This is becoming a worm in the Apple...

The OS update was released on Tuesday and already ...

MAC Defender variant quickly thwarts Apple's Mac OS X security update

A day after Apple released a security update for Mac OS X to address the "MAC Defender" malware, a new variant of the bogus antivirus software has been spotted in the wild.

As first reported by Ed Bott at ZDNet, the new variation of MAC Defender, named "Mdinstall.pkg," has been crafted to bypass the new malware-blocking code made available by Apple. That update for Mac OS X, Security Update 2011-003, was released on Tuesday.

Oh this makes me so happy. Finally I can start telling people that say 'But i have a mac' to stop bein so cocky. This is good news. =)

Originally posted by gabbermatt
Oh this makes me so happy. Finally I can start telling people that say 'But i have a mac' to stop bein so cocky. This is good news. =)

Amen. I got a PC; that means I have limitless suppliers of non-proprietary components, and the ability to tweak my dream box that I built myself to the Nth degree.