Earlier this month, a new malware threat known as "MACDefender" popped up, targeting Mac OS X users with requests to install an application claiming to be an antivirus program. The malware has continued to be a problem for many users, showing up with regularity under several different variants.
ZDNet's Ed Bott has been looking into the issue, and while some may dismiss his claims due to his position covering Microsoft for the publication, he has uncovered some interesting information in speaking with an anonymous AppleCare representative about the situation. According to the representative, Apple has been dealing with significant call volumes about the issue, claiming that over 50% of calls last week were about the malware.
There's usually about 600 or so of us spread around 14 centers for CPU support. Before this started happening, we had 7-12 minutes between calls generally. Now we're lucky to have any time between calls.
We started getting a trickle of calls a couple weeks ago. However, this last week over 50% of our calls have been about it. In two days last week I personally took 60 calls that referred to Mac Defender.
The representative noted that AppleCare's official policies prevent them from assisting customers with malware issues, as the company does not wish to set expectations that they will be able to do so consistently going forward, instead recommending that customers look into antivirus software. Some representatives have, however, reportedly been quietly helping out customers as their superiors look the other way.
In a follow-up article responding to claims that his initial report was fabricated and the issue overblown, Bott documents his examination of Apple's support forums, where he found over 200 threads from users trying to remove the malware from their systems, far higher than any previous incident. And while the malware requires that users grant explicit authorization for the software to be installed, Bott argues that there are clearly significant numbers of relatively less savvy users who are taking the bait.
Finally, Bott today published the actual AppleCare internal support document about MACDefender, where it is revealed that the issue has been categorized as "Issue/Investigation In Progress" and outlining the procedures to be used by support representatives when dealing with customers calling in about the issue. Essentially, users who have not yet installed the malware are instructed to quit the installer and delete the download, while those who have installed the software should be directed to Apple resources to learn more about malware and left to find their own antivirus solution.
Top Rated Comments
Macs have appealed to less than tech savvy users for quite some time. "It just works" isn't a tagline for those with exceptional tech skills.
I'm a Mac fan as much as the next guy on here but with comments like those above I can see why it's easy for some people to dislike Apple fans.
All this elitist, 'educated minority' talk is shameful. To essentially say that owning a Mac should be reserved for techies and the highly computer literate is beyond ridiculous. Macs appeal to all kinds of people - and so they should. I've sold many Macs to pensioners who turned away from PC's because they were too complicated - they loved learning to use a Mac though. These are some of the kind of people who install this software, because they don't always know better about malware.
Apple is popular, and it's only becoming more so, the elitist lot need to accept that or move on to something else - I'd suggest Linux.
I think you aren't aware of what the average "new Mac" users level of education is.
Remove Mac Defender (Uninstall Guide)
Posted by Grinler on May 9, 2011 @ 03:50 AM · Views: 16,019
What this infection does:
Mac Defender is a fake rogue anti-spyware program that for the Mac OS operating system. This infection is spread through the use of advertisements on web sites that pretend to be fake online scanners. When these fake scans are finished, it will state that your computer is infected and then automatically download the Mac Defender program onto your computer. Once the program has finished downloading, the installer will start and prompt you to install the program.
Once the program is installed it will be configured to start up automatically when you login to your Mac. Once running it will pretend to scan your computer and then state that there are numerous files on your computer that are infected. If you attempt to clean these fake infections, though, the program will state that you must first purchase a license before it will allow you to do so. After the scan the Control Center screen for Mac Defender will be updated to state that your computer is infected and at Risk. Regardless of the information presented by this program, you should not purchase this program as all of this information is false.
Unfortunately, when Mac Defender is installed on your computer it will also be added to your accounts Login Items so that the program is launched every time you login to your Mac. As there is no Dock icon for this application, it is also not easily closed and will instead require you to terminate its process through the Activity Monitor before you are able to remove the application from your computer.
While the program is running it will also display fake security alerts that are further used to scare you into thinking that your computer has a serious problem. Some of these alerts include:
Just like the fake scan results, these alerts are also fake and are only being used to scare you into purchasing the program. Therefore, please ignore them and do not purchase the program. Last, but not least, while the program is running it will also open up web sites to various pornographic sites.
As you can see, Mac Defender was created to scare you into thinking your computer has a severe security problem so that you will then purchase this program. For no reason should you purchase Mac Defender , and if you already have, you should contact your credit card company and dispute the charges stating that the program is a computer infection. Finally, to remove this infection, and any related malware, please use the removal guide below.
Threat Classification:
Information on Rogue Programs & Scareware (http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/rogue-programs)
Advanced information:
View Mac Defender files (http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/remove-mac-defender#files).
Tools Needed for this fix:
No special tools required.
Guide Updates:
05/08/11 - Initial guide creation.
Manual Removal Instructions for Mac Defender:
Print out these instructions so it will be easier to reference it as you follow these steps.
As Mac Defender will stay on top of any other programs that are running, we first want to close the program so that we can see the other screens that we need to open during this cleaning process. Please close this window by clicking on the red close (X) button in the top left of the Mac Defender Windows. The button that you need to click in order to close the window is shown below:
Next you should click on empty portion of your desktop so that the Finder is selected. Once it is selected, click on the Go button and select Utilities as shown in the image below.
The Utilities folder should now appear as shown in the image below.
Locate the Activity Monitor icon and double-click on it.
The Activity Monitor should now be displayed on your screen. This program lists all the processes that are currently running on your Mac OS and allows us to terminate specific programs that may be running. Scroll through the list of processes and left click on the process named MacDefender as shown in the image below.
Once the process is selected click on the Quit Process button. When a prompt appears asking if you are sure you want to quit the MacDefender process, please click on the Force Quit button. When you have finished, Mac Defender should no longer be running on your Mac and you can now close the Activity Monitor and the Utilities window.
While still at the Finder, click on the Go button and select the Applications menu option. When the Applications folder is displayed, scroll through the list of programs until you see a program named MacDefender. When you find the program, right-click on it and select the Move to Trash menu option. If MacOS prompts you for your password, please enter it. The MacDefender application will now be removed from the operating system.
Now click on the Apple Menu () and select the System Preferences menu option. When the System Preferences screen opens, select the Accounts option under the System category. When the Accounts screen opens, click on the Login Items button. This will open a screen, similar to the one below, that displays a list of programs that will automatically start for this particular user when they login to the operating system.
Look through the list of programs that are starting automatically, and single click on the entry named MacDefender. Once it is selected, click on the minus (-) sign button, as indicated by the red arrow in the image above. Once you click on the minus button the Mac Defender entry will be removed and MacOS will no longer attempt to start it when you login.
Now that Mac Defender is no longer running, we need to change a setting in Safari so that these types of programs are not automatically run on your computer in the future. By default Safari opens and launches programs that it considers safe to run. These programs include movies, pictures, sounds, PDFs, text documents, archives, and disk images. Due to this, these types of infections are able to be downloaded and automatically run on your Mac. To fix this, start the Safari program and then click on the Safari menu option. From the Safari drop down menu, select Preferences. This will open the Preferences screen as shown below. When the screen opens, if you are not on the General settings screen, please click on the General button.
You should now uncheck the checkbox labeled Open "safe" files after downloading as shown in the image above. After unchecking this box you can close the Preferences screen and Safari.
Your computer should now be free of the MacDefender program and Safari should be secure so that it does not automatically launch these types of programs.
If you are still having problems with your computer after completing these instructions, then please follow the steps outlined in the topic linked below:
Preparation Guide For Use Before Using Malware Removal Tools and Requesting Help (http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/topic34773.html)
Associated Mac Defender Files:
... <numerous other image and media files>
Disclaimer: This is a self-help guide. Use at your own risk.
Source: RiverdaleMac (Toronto) linked to BleepingComputer
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/remove-mac-defender