Apple acknowledges Mac Defender malware, promises software update

[jayfish]

Source: Ars Technica

Apple has decided to publicly acknowledge the Mac Defender malware that seems to be creeping onto Mac users' computers. The company posted an online support document Tuesday evening that outlines how to identify and get rid of the program, which attempts to trick users into handing over their credit card information. The company also promised to issue a software update soon that will specifically hunt out and remove Mac Defender and its variants.

"A recent phishing scam has targeted Mac users by redirecting them from legitimate websites to fake websites which tell them that their computer is infected with a virus," Apple wrote in its support document. "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 update will also help protect users by providing an explicit warning if they download this malware."

The much-welcome acknowledgement from Apple comes less than a week after it came out that real users were beginning to see this malware in the wild a little more often than usual. When we investigated the issue, we were told by several Apple Store Geniuses that they had also seen a spike—one Genius at a large Apple Store said he had seen malware reports in his store go from approximately 0.2 to percent to 5.8 percent in a matter of weeks, with the large majority of those being Mac Defender or its variants, often known as Mac Security or Mac Protector. (Smaller, third-party support folks were somewhat split on whether there had been a spike in malware reports.)

Read more: http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2011/05/apple-acknowledges-mac-defender-malware-promises-software-update.ars

---

Looks like the age of innocence for Mac users is over.

[ET Awful]

1. " Looks like the age of innocence for Mac users is over."

But not the age of smugness, I'm sure.

[Bonobo]

2. I have saved thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours of bug-zapping

in the last 10 years by using Macs.

PC users? Not so much.

[Ichingcarpenter]

3. delete wrong place

[lbrtbell]

7. PC does NOT equal Windows

Linux users like me use PC's every day, at far less expense than you Mac users. Linux is free, after all. We don't have to sell our souls and our wallets to Microsoft OR Apple. Linux PC's are very stable, highly customizable, and--unlike the situation in years past--there are many Linux distros that are just as easy to use as Windows or Mac.

Also, unlike Windows or Mac, there are Linux distros that can give full up-to-date functionality to older computers, which prevents them from ending up in landfills. Now THAT'S environmentally-friendly, unlike Apple's "pretend to be green, but charge a fortune for products that will be obsolete in a year" philosophy. (iPad, anyone?)

Your implying that PC users all use Windows is just further proof of how uninformed Mac users are, and this is what makes people annoyed at Mac users' smugness. If you want to claim a system is superior, you need some rudimentary knowledge of computers.

I'm not flaming you, just saying that people choose Macs for one reason only: They don't want to develop the skills required to use a full-fledged, customizable operating system. Want to use a Mac, because you don't want to learn more than basic computer skills? Great, have at it--nobody's stopping you. But please don't try to act superior to people who do have computer skills/knowledge. That's what annoys others, and understandably so.

[ET Awful]

8. Thanks for stating what should be glaringly obvious.

Notice the irate replies when Mac users are called on their smugness.

Contrary to their babbling, I'm not "smug", I'm a realist. I've yet to meet a non-smug Mac user that isn't of the impression that their electronic device is superior to all other electronic devices.

"But please don't try to act superior to people who do have computer skills/knowledge." - That's it in a nutshell.

[apnu]

9. With the Intel chip in Macs they're more PC like than Apple like these days anway.

From a hardware perspective, of course. From an OS, well... they gave up on internal OS with OS 9. OS X is highly modified BSD... which I like. That was a good move.

[primavera]

15. You were saying something about smugness?

Your suggestion that Mac users choose Macs because they "don't want to learn more than basic computer skills," as an example of which you reference the ability to use a "customizable operating system," sounds kind of smug actually. How many people do you imagine possess the skill that you would consider to be more than just "rudimentary"? Your contention comes across a little like saying "Look, if you all are too lazy to invent cold fusion and generate your own power at home, then, hey, by all means, use the power companies, but don't come off all superior about it." Do you not rely upon specialists to provide you with goods and services? Well, gee, what's wrong with you that you're so lazy as to not grow your own food, build your own home, craft your own automobile, generate your own power, construct your own telecommunications network, provide for your own medical care, etc., etc.? I'm sure it's very nice that you possess the skill to do your own programming, most of us cannot say the same. Does that make us somehow lazy, as your message would seem to imply, or simply people who have not chosen to be computer scientists?

[Bonobo]

16. Computing skills are not what I need for my profession.

What I need is a tool that works like it should that does not require being messed with like a nerdy schoolboy.

[bitchkitty]

18. One reason? I must be a visionary then.

Because I didn't choose a Mac because I'm too stupid to figure out Windows or Linux. I have plenty of computer skills and knowledge, having worked in the field for years. I bought my first Mac because the design company I worked for preferred it for graphic design, and although I don't work there any more, I still use Mac. I would never go back to Windows, and there is no Photoshop for Linux, so Mac it shall be from now on.

My iMac kicks ass, and it looks absolutely beautiful on my desk. I'm proud of it, and don't begrudge a cent of the money I spent on it. If that makes me smug, then I guess I'm smug. But please don't act superior to people who care about design. That annoys me, and understandably so.

[Occulus]

22. "there is no Photoshop for Linux"

GIMP.

[bitchkitty]

24. Sorry, no comparison. Photoshop is the industry standard for a reason. n/t

[Occulus]

26. If you are a pro, you WILL use Photoshop at some point, but let's be honest.

For the vast majority of image processing tasks that ordinary people perform, GIMP can do much more than everything required without the $700 price tag. You will have more features in Photoshop, but you better get more; that's one hell of a lot of money!

Disclaimer: I am a Blender user but would dearly love to buy a copy of Lightwave (same price tag as Photoshop) just because Lightwave was used for the visual effects in Galactica and those visuals were damn pretty. I'm sure I could get very nearly the same quality from Blender, but I'm also sure it would be more work.

Further, GIMP is the only answer for an educational setting in which a site license for Photoshop is not possible. If schools want to save money (and they do) they should choose GIMP over Photoshop in every case.

I'm certain that, with enough development support, GIMP could easily be a viable choice for professionals. The only difference there is the amount of money available to pay developers, which Adobe has a lot of. But then, the FOSS community is a passionate bunch that usually wants their version to be on par with professional packages (see Blender for more on that), so the only difference is really a function of time. Today's GIMP beats yesterday's Photoshop hands-down; today's Blender beats yesterday's 3d Studio Max hands-down.

If you absolutely must have all of Photoshop's features, by all means, spend the seven hundred bucks on it. If you do, you're probably a professional in the first place, and as I said, in that case you should be using Photoshop. But for the rest of us, GIMP is an eminently acceptable option, which makes your statement that "there is no Photoshop for linux" just plain false.

[bitchkitty]

31. Hardly false. Photoshop is a brand name

and there is no version for Linux.

I am a big fan of open source. Without it, I would not have been able to pick up some freelance jobs and would not have had as much pure FUN as I've had in the web development field. I almost always use an open source script for development, unless a client insisted on something else. The one exception is Invision software for forums - I've used all of them - PHPbb, SMF, you name it, and there is no better than Invision, in my not so humble opinion. And for graphic design and web site design, there is nothing better than Photoshop.

As far as your statement that educators should use GIMP - check the classifieds for ads for graphic designers with GIMP skills, and get back to me.

[Dappleganger]

21. Jesus Christ, talk about smug.

Your post defines it quite well.

You've just stated that all Mac users are idiots and have no computer skills. Next time you go watch a lovely Pixar movie (or any movie for that matter), thank the idiots who threw it together just for you.

BTW, my brother in law in part-owner of one of the fastest-growing up and coming software companies in VA. Guess what he uses? A Mac. He used to be anti-Macs but made the switch just a few years ago, why? Less maintenance and easier integration. Less time fixing stuff=more time to make programs/money. Simple as that.

And if you really believe that only "people who who have computer skills/knowledge" are using PC's only, you have been living in a time capsule for the past decade.

[StarsInHerHair]

35. I'm not smug, & I still have my 1st gen nano-it works fine, I sure as hell

won't be buying 'the latest' just because...........geeze you guys..

[Vehl]

20. saved thousands by using Macs? Actually Its the other way around, Macs are a ripoff

I find it surprising that you were able to save thousands over the last 10 years using Macs instead of PC's.
Ive been using PCs and I would say that I saved thousands by not using Macs.


Most Mac users seem to fall prey to republicanisque fear mongering by Apple(and other Apple users).
Some easy to use, basic safe-computer usage/browsing habits and few-steps maintainability would ensure 99% of the so called "Virus" attacks and BSOD's from happening.


For the other 1% there are very good anti-virus/malware programs. Some of the good ones are free(AVG, Malwarebytes) and some better ones come for a small price ( One can buy a year's subscription of Norton Antivirus for 5-20$(or sometimes even free(if its a renewal/upgrade)!! at fries/other consumer electronics shops if one spends a few days checking for the best deals. Even if one is in a hurry and has to get them right away without waiting for deals, they will be able to get it for around 40$ per year.

lets do a cost benefit analysis

a MAC with the same system specs as a PC is around 2 times its price.(especially so when it comes to its laptops)

Lets take the 1799(starting price)$ Macbook

Ill give the specs for the 1799 model




2.0GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor
4GB Ram
500GB 5400-rpm hard drive
Intel HD Graphics 3000 with 384MB DDR3 SDRAM shared with main memory
AMD Radeon HD 6490M with 256MB GDDR5 memory



Lets look at the specs of a equivalent/better PC laptop's price

Dell XPS 15 inch gaming laptop ( 999$)



2nd generation Intel® Core™ i7-2630QM processor 2.00 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 2.90 GHz
6GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz
750GB SATA hard drive (7200RPM)
1024MB NVIDIA® GeForce® GT525M
Tray Load Blu-ray Disc BD-Combo
McAfee Security Center with VirusScan, Firewall, Spyware Removal, 15-Months


^^

the 999 XPS is leagues ahead of the 1799 Macbook Pro. It has more memory, Much faster/bigger HD, a Dedicated Video card which is not only almost a generation ahead of the one offered by the macbook pro but has also 4 times the memory( the 256 mb offered by the macbook pro is almost next to useless for today's applications). Furthermore it comes with a Blu Ray DVD drive(btw something which the god of apple has deemed not necessary for his disciples). To top it all, it comes with 15 month all inclusive virus/malware protection!.

Even after the 15 months, it will at most cost the user 30-40(or as little as 5 or 10$ if he bought during sales) to get yet another year's worth of virus protection...not to mention the fact that the user himself/herself can buy components and replace most of them himself if something goes bad/wanted to upgrade after the 2 year warranty expires...compare this to the arm and leg it would cost to have it replaced/upgrade for a mac user.

It should be obvious, to anyone who is not a cultish Mac fan, that the MAC's(and all apple products) are way more expensive for the same speced equivalents from PC/non Apple vendors.

Thus, I'm at a loss to understand how anyone can "save" thousands by sticking with a MAC when even a cursory glance at the statistics show that the reverse is true.


PS:
@ OP

Lol I would love to see the faces of the MAC fans now.....and the funniest part is that every year, in the yearly Hacker convention's competitions....Safari browser gets hacked super fast...faster than IE, Firefox. Apple users were safe only because they were such a small number and not worth the time of hackers/virus developers.

Apple Safari browser gets hacked in 5 seconds

ZDNet is reporting that the Apple Safari browser has been hacked in five seconds in the Pwn2Own hacking competition. The competition is taking place in Vancouver between March 9-11.

French security researchers VUPEN successfully hacked a full patched Safari browser on a MacBook running Mac OS X 64-bit . The hack consisted of luring the browser to a malicious site, then taking control of the system using a vulnerability that is built into the Webkit engine. It bypassed Apple’s own ASLR and DEP protection built into Mac OS X and launched a calculator app proving that they had achieved write access to the disk. The browser didn’t even crash when the exploit was performed so it would never seem like anything was even happening before it’s too late.

Continue reading on Examiner.com Apple Safari browser gets hacked in 5 seconds - Los Angeles Apple Products | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/apple-products-in-los-angeles/apple-safari-browser-gets-hacked-5-seconds#ixzz1NUVpejct

[Occulus]

25. Vehl, I've tried this exact sort of comparison before

You are shouting into the wind. An fMRI of Apple users shows that the same parts of their brains are activated in the same ways as those of the devoutly religious when shown Apple logos and products. Yes, you read that correctly: the brains Apple fanboys react in the exact same ways as zealots do to their chosen religion.

You can provide all the proof out there that you'll get far, far more bang for your buck with a PC running Windows or *nix than any Mac, and you'll be wasting your time. I have found that PCs deliver twice the performance for half the price, and I have repeatedly proven this just as you did above, but it doesn't do any good. The one-button-mousers are Convinced.

[TCJ70]

30. One button mouse?

I've had two buttons for years on my Mac...

[Vehl]

32. I agree

Ive tried explaining this thing quite a few times as well..both on forums and on real life..and people are simply too "religious" in their cultish obsession to Mac that they are not even willing to consider facts which are staring them in their face.

I for one, am not at all surprised to see research support something that which pretty much every pc user worth his salt has known about Mac fans :)

[StarsInHerHair]

36. you forgot to say that windows office COSTS extra, windows word costs extra,

itunes comes WITH the mac, iwork comes WITH the mac, I could go on........

[StarsInHerHair]

34. I hear you, my Aunt went thru...3 or 4 computers when all I had was an imac

more expensive up front, but not so much in the long run.

[Ichingcarpenter]

4. So your smugness is now attacking Apple users?

Seems like a double standard.

[mwb970]

6. What an unnecessary thing to say.

Do you always start your day by smugly accusing others of smugness?

:shrug:

[TroglodyteScholar]

13. This non-Mac user would like to take this opportunity to be smug...

[PatGund]

19. Nothing wrong with Linux...

I have my quad-core iMac set up to either boot or use virtualization for OS X (based on BSD Unix), Windows 7, and Ubuntu.

[Occulus]

27. *You're* not the one being addressed here, though.

You're obviously as agnostic as any truly savvy computer user. While I certainly wouldn't pay the money for Apple hardware, I do have to say their OS is pretty slick (it better be- it's UNIX, ffs!).

The people being addressed here are the ones who apparently see Steve Jobs as some kind of Christ figure. For fun, Google the following:

fMRI +"Apple users" +religion

They're the ones we're trying to reach here. Do you see how impossible a task that may be?

[Arkana]

33. I have never met a less-user friendly, more needlessly complicated OS

than Linux and all its derivations.

[onehandle]

5. Only happens when a user goes out of their way to install a little known third party free fakeware.

Security analysts call the 'risk' low.

The sky is not falling and yet Apple, as always, takes action.

Nobody says there isn't malware out there for the Mac. Not the first, not the last.

'Looks like the age of innocence for Mac users is over.'

I've heard that for decades. Keep your hopes up.

[ET Awful]

10. Mmmmhmm, except for the fact that Mac support reps were explicitly ordered

not to even acknowledge whether or not the malware existed on a users machine. . . .

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/bott/apple-to-support-reps-do-not-attempt-to-remove-malware/3362

[apnu]

12. Yeah was extra uncool on Apple's part.

And I think it was that exposure by Ars (at least that's where I first read of it, but maybe it broke elsewhere first) that had an impact on Apple's acknowledgement of this issue. That's sad as hell. It also reminds me of the early days of Windows (around Win95 and going into Win98). Microsoft was real reluctant to admit bugs. Now that they've been publicly flogged for well over a decade, its no big deal for them to admit bugs.

Looks like its time for this to happen to Apple. I'll never understand why companies take this route instead of a more open and honest stance. I think people would respect them more, but I suppose the "C"-level people who set these policies are more concerned with protecting the brand than they are of their customers and stakeholders. So what else is new?

[apnu]

11. As a tech support engineer the same can be said for half of the Windoze malware

Given that most Win boxes have some kind of defenses on them, users have been victimized by phishing trojans like this for some time. And I've seen many users who've gone out of their way to infect themselves.

The only change here is the phishing is targeting Mac people, and its exposed them to be just as gullible as Windows users (and some Ubuntu users I'll add). Which, in my opinion, has highlighted what we already knew: Some people are gullible. Also, that any given OS can be exploited easily by malcode written for that OS.

I think the digs at the "smugness" as to do not specifically with the users but also with Apple's advertising and store employees. They are smug and have false confidence in the product and incomplete knowledge of the products. I've gone into the store and talked to the floor people about not very technical things such as RAM configurations and speeds and they've usually had to get a manager or someone from the Bar to talk to me. Apple ain't all that, like they say they are. And the Mac vs Windows ads, while funny are also smug.

So my point is Apple has a halo of smugness about it and that sometimes is attributed to Mac users unfairly and sometimes fairly. And that Apple isn't perfect by a longshot, which shouldn't be news to anybody.

I will also say this, Microsoft fanboys are the worst of the worst.

Full disclosure: posted from my 13" MacBook Pro, mid 2010 version

[jayfish]

14. Ooops..

http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2011/05/new-mac-defender-malware-variant-drops-admin-password-requirement.ars

New Mac Defender malware variant drops admin password requirement

Move over Mac Defender—there's a new malware variant in town, and it doesn't require the administrator password for installation. Security research firm Intego issued a new warning to Mac users on Wednesday, heavily cautioning users that a new variant on Mac Defender, called Mac Guard, is making the rounds via SEO poisoning online.

Oh, and Apple didn't take any action until the pressure was on. As noted above they denied MD even existed then refused to help end-users uninstall it.

[Redford]

17. Once you go Mac you never go back

I bought a mac in Dec when my PC died. I love this computer and WILL NEVER GO BACK TO A PC

[DeSwiss]

23. Oops, sorry. I didn't know a PC/Mac war was in-progress....

[MrScorpio]

28. Huh… Wha?

Oh, it's another Mac/PC/Windows/Linux war…

Sorry, I was looking for music

[LanternWaste]

29. Corporate branding and marketing can be quite successful...

Corporate branding and marketing can be quite successful judging by a few responses on this thread...