Wednesday, May 25, 2011

AFTER WEEKS OF SPECULATION, COULD THERE BE VULNERABILITIES WITHIN THE MAC OSX?




After thousands of people were calling for support, but Apple wouldn’t acknowledge that there was a problem.

People were being turned away, there was no Mac Defender problem.

Is it really malware though?

You decide.

Late yesterday afternoon Apple released a new “support document” after weeks of people complaining about Mac Defender. This is a first for Apple. Ordinarily, those of us who use Apple don’t use anti-virus or anti-spyware software. By admitting this problem, Apple is acknowledging that there are security problems and vulnerabilities within the MAC OSX operating system.


Apple is responding to this after taking harsh criticism. This after users who had been infected called Apple for support, they in return were pretty much blown off. Apple has promised that they will deliver an update that will automatically find and remove Mac Defender and any variants of this bogus software. Furthermore Apple has instructed infected users outlined steps that they can take to remove the malware . 


What is Mac Defender? Mac Defender, also known as Mac Protector and Mac Security first popped up earlier this month. These programs are nothing but fakes. I wouldn’t quite call it malware. Security experts are labeling this as “scareware” or “rougeware”. Scareware and rougeware are nothing more than terms for bogus security software. It claims that the user’s PC is infected with worms, viruses and other malware. Once the software is installed on your computer, or Mac, the software consistently nags the user with annoying pop ups and fake alerts until they fork over a fee to purchase the fake worthless program.


 In the end, it really doesn’t matter what your OS of choice is. When online you always have to take extra precautionary measures to ensure that your internet use is safe and secure. Are you an Apple or Microsoft user? What do you think?
    

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