First Mac 'scareware' makes appearance
Security scam shows Apple's joined the big time, and not in a good way
January 15, 2008 12:00 PM ETComputerworld - Mac users can now claim their first example of "scareware," a widespread scam in the Windows world where bogus security software tries to spook consumers into anteing up, an antivirus vendor reported today.
MacSweeper, which sells for $39.99 through a Web site by the same name, is a rogue application that will "always find something to fix/clean, but the only way to do so is to buy the program," claimed Patrik Runald, a senior security specialist at Helsinki, Finland-based F-Secure Corp., in a posting to the company's blog.
"Even more telling that it's a scam is the fact that when you visit the MacSweeper site with a PC and click on 'Scan,' it will tell you that you have security vulnerabilities in folders that only exist on [the] Mac, like 'system_root/home," said Runald. "Fake? Oh yeah."
Additional clues about the application's illegitimacy, added Runald, are easy to spot. The MacSweeper Web site, for example, includes text under an "About us" heading that is a brazen copy-and-paste from the Symantec Corp. site.
MacSweeper.com, which was registered in November 2007, uses a domain name server based in Ukraine, according to a WHOIS search. The individuals who registered the domain, however, masked their identities using an anonymity service.
MacSweeper, said Runald, is a cousin to the Windows scareware dubbed Cleanator, just one of numerous rogue security programs on that platform that try to dupe users out of money and/or credit card account information by posing as useful software. Among the most notorious scareware applications on Windows: SpySheriff, WinFixer and IEDefender.
"What does the first Mac rogue application really mean?" asked Runald. "It means that ... Mac users will increasingly come under attack from bad guys. It doesn't mean that Mac is becoming less secure in and of itself. But it does mean that Mac users will have to watch out for social engineering tricks just like Windows users have had to do for years."
Mac
Additional Resources



Learn the important issues you must consider before starting your next mobility initiative. Get your mobility white paper from IDC now, compliments of Sybase.
White Papers & Webcasts
Share our Strength
Download Now
Lower the Cost and Complexity of a Mobile Workforce through Automation
Download This Resource Now!
Top 10 Things to Know about Data Protection
Download Now
Managing Mobility: Improve Data Security, Compliance and Manageability
Download This Resource Now!
Managing Secure File Transfer to Save Time, Money and IT Resources
Learn how companies are using innovative technology to overcome these challenges and improve user productivity by offloading e-mail attachments and replacing FTP with...
Ponemon Study: The Business Risk of a Lost Laptop
Download Now
Security Convergence Equals Network Security Cost Savings
Listen to IBM Internet Security Systems' take on network security convergence.
Airport Insecurity: The Case of Lost Laptops
Download Now
Disaster Recovery 2008: Reduced Costs and Improved Performance
How long can your Enterprise afford to be without your data? With an accelerated disaster recovery program, you never have to answer this...
