“Malwarebytes has discovered a previously unknown piece of Mac malware that could easily fool less- technical users,” Ben Lovejoy reports for 9to5Mac.
“Thomas Reed, lead researcher at Malwarebytes, told us that he found the malware on a scam page hosted on the official Advanced Mac Cleaner website,” Lovejoy reports. “It does rely on a naive user approving a request to install Advanced Mac Cleaner on their machine, but doing so also installs a second app known as Mac File Opener.”
“If a user tries to open a file for which they don’t have a corresponding app, it will be opened by Mac File Opener which then presents a reasonably convincing fake version of the normal OS X dialog box advising that no suitable app is installed,” Lovejoy reports. “The fake dialog box links to the macfileopener[dot]com website, which downloads other junk PCVARK apps, such as Mac Adware Remover or Mac Space Reviver.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Tell your less-technical family and friends to stick to Apple’s Mac App Store.
SEE ALSO:
Don’t waste your money on OS X snake oil for your Mac – July 28, 2015
How to detect and remove MacKeeper and keylogger malware on your Mac – July 17, 2015
Controversial MacKeeper security program opens critical hole on Mac computers – May 12, 2015
What ‘MacKeeper’ is and why you should avoid it – January 21, 2015
How to uninstall MacKeeper from your Mac – December 19, 2014
That’s the goal of adware — to specifically target people who aren’t technically savvy, Mac or Windows or otherwise, to compromise the security of your computer and to rip you off for programs you don’t need.
Yes, and tell them to turn on the ad/tracker blocking. MDN, as much as you guys slag on Google, you’re right there with the Google AdWords and Google Analytics.
Just use host block. My mac is invincible.
PCs not affected…
PCs not affected by *this* piece of malware…
How much malware is there for Windows again?
Little Story:
Thomas Reed is the developer of AdwareMedic, the first decent Mac adware remover, which became the core of Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for Mac. Thomas started out exploring Mac security and writing his blog, The Safe Mac, while working as a stay-at-home dad. I met him online as part of a terrific group of people dedicated to studying and writing about Mac security. The group was started by Mark Allan, who develops ClamXav.
Thomas’ source article:
PCVARK plays dirty
BTW: The developers of MacKeeper, purveyors of SCARE AD web pages, are back to their old trick of bombarding app download sites with faked 4 and 5 star reviews. We caught them pulling this, yet again, over at MacUpdate.com.
Every single customer I meet that has MacKeeper, I tell them to remove IMMEDIATELY. Malwarebytes recognizes the program as malware.