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MacDefender malware protection and removal guide
Screenshot thanks to @jaythenerd The MacDefender malware has been causing trouble for Mac users all over the world; people are calling Apple Support in a panic, spending time visiting their local Apple Store Genius, and getting all stressed out about it. What's worse: the malware is mostly harmless to your computer. It's a scam trying to rip off your credit card number, not hurt your Mac (not that the theft of your credit info is a good thing). The attack, which displays a message stating that your machine has been infected with viruses that only a "MacDefender" app can remove, has been spreading rapidly -- most of the folks encountering it are coming across it via Google image searches, where results have been 'poisoned' with the malware download. MacDefender doesn't infect Macs with a virus, nor does it run a keylogger as a background process on your machine. It's simply trying to scare users into providing credit card information by registering an unneeded piece of software. MacSecurity and MacProtector are the same scam software, differing in name only. It's been reported by ZDNet's Ed Bott that Apple is telling support reps not to assist with removing this malware. You're on your own, but TUAW is here to help you. Read more to find out how to protect yourself from MacDefender, what a MacDefender attack looks like, and how to remove the app if it is installed on your Mac.
Symantec talks Mac security
What might Apple's surging sales of Macs have to do with the security of your computer? Possibly, a lot. In a recent CIO interview (conducted by our very own Lisa Hoover), Ollie Whitehouse, an architect for Symantec's Advanced Threat Research Team said that as the Mac keeps growing in popularity, so will the exploits. This theory has been around for as long as OS X, if not longer but lately it seems to be gaining some credibility. There was the Mac "virus" last year, though it actually managed to infect less than 50 Macs in the wild. There was the report of a "dramatic increase" in OS X malware recently. And just yesterday ZDNet posted an article on vulnerabilities found in three operating systems: Leopard, Windows Vista, and Windows XP. They said that Mac OS X had the most vulnerabilities of the three (though it is worth noting that they are "vulnerabilities," not actual exploits. Windows still reigns supreme on that front).Could these analysts be right? Should we be worried about the continued security of our chosen platform? Should Apple start focusing on OS X's security rather than simply adding more features? Only time will tell, but one thing is certain: it is a scary world out there.
Undercover software tracks "stolen" Mac
The team at Mac 360 "stole" a Mac in order to test Orbicule's Undercover, new anti-theft software for a Mac. David Chartier described what Undercover does in an earlier post. The gist of it is that Undercover tries to locate a stolen Mac by taking and transmitting screenshots. If the Mac has an iSight, Undercover will even take photos of the user and send those back to Orbicule. What if the Mac isn't connected to the Internet? In that case, Undercover simulates a hardware meltdown, in the hope that the thief will take the computer to an authorized reseller for repair. To test whether these novel tracking schemes are likely to get your Mac back to you, Mac 360 staged a test theft of a PowerBook. The result is a two-part keystone cops post. Their conclusion? I'll let you guess.
