A phishing scam has targeted Mac users by redirecting them from legitimate websites to fake websites which tell them that their computer is infected with a virus. The user is then offered Mac Defender 'anti-virus' software to solve the issue.
This “anti-virus” software is malware (i.e. malicious software). Its ultimate goal is to get the user's credit card information which may be used for fraudulent purposes.
The most common names for this malware are MacDefender, MacProtector and MacSecurity.
Apple released a free software update (Security Update 2011-003) that will automatically find and remove Mac Defender malware and its known variants.
The Resolution section below also provides step-by-step instructions on how to avoid or manually remove this malware.
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Resolution
How to avoid installing this malware
If any notifications about viruses or security software appear, quit Safari or any other browser that you are using. If a normal attempt at quitting the browser doesn’t work, then Force Quit the browser.
In some cases, your browser may automatically download and launch the installer for this malicious software. If this happens, cancel the installation process; do not enter your administrator password. Delete the installer immediately using the steps below.
- Go into the Downloads folder, or your preferred download location.
- Drag the installer to the Trash.
- Empty the Trash.
How to remove this malware
If the malware has been installed, we recommend the following actions:
- Do not provide your credit card information under any circumstances.
- Use the Removal Steps below.
Removal steps
- Move or close the Scan Window.
- Go to the Utilities folder in the Applications folder and launch Activity Monitor.
- Choose All Processes from the pop up menu in the upper right corner of the window.
- Under the Process Name column, look for the name of the app and click to select it; common app names include: MacDefender, MacSecurity or MacProtector.
- Click the Quit Process button in the upper left corner of the window and select Quit.
- Quit Activity Monitor application.
- Open the Applications folder.
- Locate the app ex. MacDefender, MacSecurity, MacProtector or other name.
- Drag to Trash, and empty Trash.
Malware also installs a login item in your account in System Preferences. Removal of the login item is not necessary, but you can remove it by following the steps below.
- Open System Preferences, select Accounts, then Login Items
- Select the name of the app you removed in the steps above ex. MacDefender, MacSecurity, MacProtector
- Click the minus button
Use the steps in the “How to avoid installing this malware” section above to remove the installer from the download location.
Note: Apple provides security updates for the Mac exclusively through Software Update and the Apple Support Downloads site. User should exercise caution any time they are asked to enter sensitive personal information online.
For a long time, Mac OS users believed they were safe, that there was no malware for their system. As recent as April 2012 and the flashback attack on over 700,000 Apple PCs, it is clear that attackers also have the Macintosh in their crosshairs. AV-TEST has tested 18 antivirus products for Mac and finds some of them truly superb – others are really horrible.
Security Suites for Mac OS XFor on-demand detection, only four products achieved the 100-percent mark (AV-TEST August 2014).
The universe of known threats for the Mac OS is still not terribly large. This easily leads to the assumption that Mac users don't have to worry about the topic of security software. What's more, tests published on the Web with 1 to 20 known Mac intruders, all of which were naturally detected, don't make the situation any better. In the meantime, however, there are already a few hundred current threats specially targeting the Mac that in particular seek to exploit the security gaps of software add-ons.
A few of the products slow down the system when copying. The strong detection package from Bitdefender hardly slows down the system at all (AV-TEST August 2014).
' tabindex='0'>Security Suites for Mac OS XA few of the products slow down the system when copying. The strong detection package from Bitdefender hardly slows down the system at all (AV-TEST August 2014).
The security package detected all the malware sought in the test and, in doing so, hardly strained the System.
' tabindex='0'>Bitdefender for MacThe security package detected all the malware sought in the test and, in doing so, hardly strained the System.
The freeware for Mac users did a good job, though not a great job, at recognizing the intruders.
' tabindex='0'>avast! Free Antivirus for MacThe freeware for Mac users did a good job, though not a great job, at recognizing the intruders.
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Bitdefender for Mac
Everyone says: Mac OS X can protect itself
To be sure, since OS X 10.7 or 10.8 there are some good internal security systems such as Gatekeeper, Sandbox and Xprotect. Xprotect, for example, checks the mail and browser downloads. USB sticks, CDs or DVDs, however, are not inspected.
The Flashback attack of 2012 caught many users flat-footed, and over 700,000 Macs were infected in a flash. Up to that time, there was a consensus that an antivirus application for a Mac was merely ballast. An opinion that persists to this day, except probably among the some 700,000 Flashback victims.
18 Security suites for Mac put to the test
For the maximum protection under OS X 10.9, the AV-TEST lab inspected 18 currently available Internet security suites in terms of their protection function, system load and false positives. In addition, the features of the protection packages were listed.
In the first part of the test, 117 specimens of malware targeting the Mac were inspected in the so-called on-demand test. This is the normal scanning routine of security tools for malware. In the second part, the on-access test, the quality of the background antivirus watchdog was inspected. In doing so, an additional 84 infected files in the system were copied into another folder. In this case, the watchdog must respond and block access to the infected file.
Partially very weak malware detection
Only the packages from Bitdefender, G Data and Norman were able to complete both parts each with 100 percent detection. This is followed by a wide midfield with 10 products that achieved between 82.1 and 100 percent in the on-demand test. In the on-access test, the scores were only between 70.2 and 100 percent.
The last four products from Symantec, Trend Micro, McAfee and Webroot exhibited very poor results. In the on-demand test, detection was only between 19.7 and 54.7 percent. Also in the on-access test, the four products only achieved 21.4 to 50 percent. The weakest product from Webroot thus only caught every fifth intruder.
If you're a drag, you're out
The biggest problem with antivirus applications on the Mac is that they are a drag on the system. In order to measure the burden posed by system watchdogs, the laboratory measured the time it took to copy over 7 GB of data on the reference system: 17.2 seconds. Afterwards, all the products were installed, the copy routine was repeated and the time was clocked.
Half the tested products only slowed down the system by a factor between 1.5 and 10 percent. Regardless of their flawless detection performance, Bitdefender and Norman hardly slowed down the system at all: 17.5 and 18.1 seconds respectively were measured during copying. The strong detection package from G Data slowed down the system slightly more: 19.1 seconds.
Of the initial 16 solutions, with 20.8 seconds the package from Intego marked the threshold to the programs that slowed down the system. Prior to that, a security solution thus slowed down the copying routine by a maximum of 3.6 seconds – that's not anything the user would notice in everyday use.
Far above this threshold were the packages from Microworld with 40.4 seconds and Trend Micro tested multiple times at 470.3 seconds instead of 17.2 – that is a 27-fold time lag.
Identification friend or foe
All the system watchdogs were tested for false positives. While protection was active, 100 popular software packages from the Mac App Store were each installed. Among them, for example, were tools such as the VLC Media Player, Open Office or Java, for instance. None of the security packages sounded a false alarm here.
For this test, the security software had a somewhat easier job under Mac than under Windows, as the volume of available software is considerably smaller.
Mac Os X Built In Malware Scanner
Often bare-bones features
Free Malware Scanner Windows 10
In addition to the normal security functions, the packages offer only selective additional functions. Avast offers an anti-spam function. ESET, G Data and Trend Micro an anti-phishing tool. Not even half the packages throw in a safe-browsing function for the user.
There are only additional protection modules, such as a personal firewall, child protection, a backup function or encryption tools on selective products. And this despite the fact that most of the protection packages require payment of an annual license.
Conclusion: More protection is possible
Private Mac users can depend on the internal security systems of the current OS X. But in case a Trojan such as Flashback should ever manage to penetrate the system again, then it will be all over but the shouting. Companies in particular should not incur this risk for corporate and customer data. Because the firm's existence could easily be at stake.
In the test, the solution of Bitdefender found all malware specimens error-free and did not measurably slow down the system in its routines. G Data and Norman are also reliable security partners. In doing their job, they put an undiscernible additional burden on the system.
The solution from avast! offered the best freeware product in the test. While the system watchdog did not work completely without a glitch, it still performed well, and it was quite economical with resources.
Here's another tip: Users should definitely have the appropriate security software factory-installed or buy an off-the-shelf version. Because the versions from the Mac App Store have restrictions in their functions!