The cat and mouse game has begun. Apple recently released a new security update, that is capable of detecting new mutated version of Mac Defender. Previously we saw a situation where cyber criminals changed their misleading program to overcome the new Apple security update. This was done just several hours after the update. The newest update from Apple alerts users of the presence of a new variant of Mac Defender. In the warning message this rogue program is called OSX.MacDefender.C.
May 19
|22:55 PM
Apple is informing it's support team not to remove or even confirm the existence of fake antivirus programs that target Mac computers. AppleCare representatives when asked about Mac Defender or it's variant checks if Mac OSX and security are up-to-date and then directs people to Mac App Store where users can download antivirus software.Apple's policies differ from those of Microsoft, which offers free support for malware. Dell and HP offers malware removal for a fee.
Recently there was a new scam released on Facebook. Users of this social network are duped into spreading spam. The creators of this scam are using the interest of the new iPhone 5. The scam starts when someone from your group of friends comments on a link in a post that leads to a news article about iPhone 5 at a website "greatlakesnews.info". If you click on this link you are redirected to different website which will show a captcha window. When you click verify, a message on you Facebook wall will notify all your friend that you have commented on this and providing them with the misleading iPhone 5 link. After your friend clicks on this link they are taken to a survey which is basically marketing, and the creators of this scam are making money of it. This type of attack is known as "clickjacking".
Skype began serving an updated version of it's chat software for Mac users. The update was made to fix a dangerous security bug that could have been used to build a worm.
Apple announced that flash player will no longer be pre installed on their computers. This doesn't mean that Flash software is banned from Mac computers (this was previously done with iPhone and iPad), you will be able to download and install Flash player by yourself if you need it. Flash technology is widely used to view videos on the Internet. Apple confirmed that they have stopped preinstalling flash player to new computers.
