Posted on 05/27/2011 7:14:04 AM PDT by for-q-clinton
The once relatively virus-free Apple Mac ecosystem has been tainted forever by a nasty malware scam and you sense an age of innocence has ended. It’s a deadly shock to that ecosystem because now a second variant bug has arrived that requires no password.
The malware first manifested itself when Mac users noticed ads for a product called Mac Defender that promised to protect them against malware and viruses. However, it turned out Mac Defender was actually a piece of malware that becomes active on a desktop after a user is suckered into entering a password, and floods the screen with pop-up pornography sites.
Since then a number of variants – MacGuard, MacSecurity and MacProtector - have arrived.
According to security firm Intego, the goal of this fake antivirus software is to trick users into providing their credit card numbers to supposedly clean out infected files on their Macs.
New variant requires no passwords
Intego has discovered a new variant of this malware that functions slightly differently. It comes in two parts.
The first part is a downloader, a tool that, after installation, downloads a payload from a web server. As with the Mac Defender malware variants, this installation package, called avSetup.pkg, is downloaded automatically when a user visits a specially crafted website.
If Safari's "Open ‘safe’ files after downloading" option is checked, the package will open Apple's Installer, and the user will see a standard installation screen.
If not, users may see the downloaded ZIP archive and double-click it out of curiosity, not remembering what they downloaded, then double-click the installation package. In either case, the Mac OS X Installer will launch.
“Unlike the previous variants of this fake antivirus, no administrator's password is required to install this programme. Since any user can install software in the Applications folder, a password is not needed,” Intego said in a warning note.
“This package installs an application - the downloader - named avRunner, which then launches automatically. At the same time, the installation package deletes itself from the user's Mac, so no traces of the original installer are left behind.”
The second part of the malware is a new version of the MacDefender application called MacGuard. This is downloaded by the avRunner application from an IP address that is hidden in an image file in the avRunner application's Resources folder. (The IP address is hidden using a simple form of steganography.) Intego VirusBarrier X6’s Anti-Spyware feature detects this operation:
“Intego considers that the risk for this new variant to be medium, in part because the SEO poisoning has been very efficient in leading Mac users to booby-trapped pages, but also because no password is required to install this variant.”
>>>I don’t hate Macs, but I sure find the snobbery and arrognace inherent in Mac fans quite distasteful and off-putting. I’ll bet Obama (ptui) is a Mac fan: It would suit his self-image.
Equally off-poutting is the unbridled arrogance of Windows users who go out of their way to demean people who don’t drink Bill Gates’ kool-aid. And the wazoo apertures who paint Mac users as good time plastic banana dope smoking maggot infested liberals. It’s bigotry. Stereotyping. And it’s wrong. People here should be above that... but they’re not.
Gorelicker?
Oooo, meow!
You are aware that Rush is a Mac user too, right? I was referring to the members of the “Church of Jobs”, not the average user who just wants a simple intuitive machine. That you took it personally and threw ad hominem in for good measure speaks volumes.
This is as silly as the Ford vs Chevy vs Dodge wars.
I'm not a Machead however! Or a Mac owner.
I do like to consume apples however, the Braeburn type from the grocery store and not the computer type!
Yous a funny one eh? :)
And I was referring to the members of the Church of Gates... you took offense anyway. And took it personally. And that too speaks volumes.
Linux or Windows? ...You act like an Apple...
“...Those who have a problem with Apple should just not buy the product and that takes care of that. Don’t come to FR to flame those who like the product. That’s just dumb...”
— Jim Robinson, owner of FreeRepublic.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/backroom/2557969/posts?page=143#127
Well I disagree. There are a ton of conservatives that use MACs and they are fighting for the constitution along side the HP users. I don’t believe that a computer makes a man or women for that matter. However, you can have that opinion because I am fighting for you to have that right.
I do live under a rock (and I kinda like it), and am currently unemployed, and this is only the second time I have found a thread on FR about it.
I have been building/using/programming computers of all kinds since I was a child. I worked for large companies and government agencies, and we had mainframes, minicomputers, IBM/clone PC’s and MACs.
One of the things I found out was that people defend vigorously, and often blindly, the thing with which they are MOST FAMILIAR. The younger they were, the more they claimed to know.
Whether it be hardware, or software, or even how they manually do their job, most of them become locked into the idea that they ‘know it all’.
I’ve had people tell me that a well known graphics software was the best. It was the software, of course, they were using to do their job. I asked one of these people what other product had he used. The answer was ‘none’.
So.... a real computer genius knows this.
If you haven’t used both a MAC and PC you should. Both have their advantages. There is a reason there isn’t just one model of car on the road. The competitiveness between the two, is a good thing. Some people choose a PC or MAC based on a truly educated plan, and others do so because their friend has one.
A REAL computer genius, would have, and use, both.
“However, you can have that opinion because I am fighting for you to have that right.”
Do people not understand sarcasm? Have to have a little fun once and awhile!
Funny thing about that. It hasn't made the MAC users any smarter.
Of course, most people have access to the internet, and thus an abundance of info on any subject at their fingertips, and yet the public in general seems to be getting dumber.
Your right. I probably need too. However I am in heck right now trying to process out of the Navy.....retiring is not as easy as folks think especially in Norfolk.
Actually I disagree with that. I personally have gain a ton of information that I had zero knowledge on. Free Republic has really been a blessing for me. I know more about morals, politics, current events and other knowledge than ever before.
I would whole-heartedly disagree with you on several points to your blind accusation. Windows 7, while not perfect, is astronomically more stable and easier to use than Vista. I supported Vista in my organization, and the migration to 7 was a Godsend, to say the least.
Better IPv6 support
Better x64 support native
Better resource mapping, allocation, and management
Easier to manage with AD
Better driver support
Stabler kernel
Those are just my Top 6. I am happier with 7 on myriad fronts where Vista was really just ME repackaged with a fancier GUI, if you want to make a comparison.
With the proper mindset and distrust of the Net-connected world in which we live, 7 can be as stable and secure as any MacOS. Like I’ve said, Linux is my native OS, but 7 supports my gaming addiction with wider support of titles and ease of configuration for system engineers and overclockers like myself.
They could argue MAC vs. PC till they were blue in the face, and it wouldn’t matter.
Those who claim to know what is BEST, usually claim it is that which is sitting in front of them. Regardless for the reason why they picked it.
When it comes down to it, the real argument isn’t about the PC or MAC, it is about EGO.
And my Dad’s CHEVY can beat your FORD any day.
You can't, because I completely agree with you on every word you said after that. I learn something new every day, just because I'm surfing FR.
However, like you, I have always used the tools I had at the time to gain knowledge. Not everyone does. For many people, the internet is a place where everyone is supposed to learn all about how much THEY know, and how cool they are, and what they had for breakfast.
What I use it for is to find out what everyone else 'knows'.
Thanks for your service!
What are your plans going forward?
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