Usually there are about 100,000 new malicious programs for Windows detected every single day, and normally the number of malware intended for Max OS X is a lot smaller. But that does not mean that Mac owners can think there are no threats out there. Especially as recently hundreds of people have been attacked by fake security software called MACDefender. A lot of users were very keen to get rid of it, especially as the program spammed their screens with pornographic pictures.
MACDefender was successful in infecting a lot of computers, because its creators have done their homework and tried hard to make it appear high up in search results. The criminals have turned to the search engines to make the program appear right in front of potential victims, linking it with such harmless phrases as “Mother’s Day”. A person might be searching for anything on Google images, and when he or she clicks on an image the user is taken to webpage which serves up the attack. And it does not matter whether the computer runs Mac OS X or Windows.
This fake antivirus program goes by two names – MACDefender and Mac Security. Its creators surely have put enough effort to make it look presentable, because the program’s interface does not look too different from an interface of a legitimate security application. This fake anti-virus software also has a few tricks up its sleeve, forged to make people cough up cash quicker. One of it includes firing up the browser of infected machines and then calling up one of the several different pornographic websites. Users were more eager to pay for the worthless program in order to avoid seeing the sites on a daily basis.
This is exactly what programs like that do. Fake antivirus like MACDefender urges people to install software that then pretends to scan a computer for security problems. It then forges a list of fake threats is has “detected” and asks for money before it will take care of these non-existent problems. The emergence of this fake antispyware shows that even Mac owners should take their security seriously.
Fake security software takes a bite of Apple Screenshots
Ever since the first malware affecting the Mac computers was detected, there have been more threats identified as time passes. It has become absolutely necessary to have security software to protect the devices and users.