Mac malware on the loose

A piece of malware written to target the Mac OS has been discovered in the wild.

Called MacSweeper, the program tries to pass itself off as a legitimate Mac application known as MacSweeper.

The news is particularly disturbing as Macs are seen to be safe from viruses and other malware because it is so often the Windows operating system that is targeted.

This can lull Mac owners into a false sense of security, believing anti-virus software to be unnecessary.

"The rising popularity of Macs may be luring malware authors to test profits on these platforms. Tides are turning and what many security experts have predicted is coming true: the days of malware-free Mac are numbered," said David Sancho of Trend Micro.

The program doesn't actually do much harm to the Mac, though it is very difficult to remove. Once installed, it claims to scan the system and report any privacy violations.

It will find plenty of these violations, but to remove them, you are required to buy the full version of the software.

"As usual, it takes user awareness to combat these types of threats. Do not trust websites notifying you that your computer is infected," continued Sancho.

The makers of MacSweeper did attempt to justify their tactics to Finnish security firm F-Secure last week.

"The problem is we are using selling partners that force us to use this marketing type. We would like to leave them. We don't want to completely destroy the good name of the MacSweeper application," a MacSweeper spokesman told F-Secure.

www.f-secure.com
www.trendmicro.com

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