Malware found on app Duplicates cleaner

Since some of the forum users seem to think that the information provided is falses or that the Web site Virus total is not valid I am interested in any Apple forum users providing evidence that this software is not malware

these forums are in place for technical problems with Apple products. There is no need for us to provide “evidence” on any third party software you decided to install/run.

And, you can address your problem with it with the developer and/or Apple directly.

6a1163b45c9748e0aaa3da5551657f7faa1cca4f2d6c4465259a2374f34d02a8

No virus found.

https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/6a1163b45c9748e0aaa3da5551657f7faa1cca4f2d6c4465259a2374f34d02a8/detection

Local ClamScan found no problem with Duplicates Cleaner.app

I hope you have a great time chasing after some utopian problem. Actually, I have a solution: uninstall Duplicates Cleaner.

I am well aware that this is a forum of users of this service that is why it is important to notify them of a problem.

Not really since I, for one, would not let such an app near any of my Macs.

I am now unsubscribing to this thread.

No, it is a 4th party and absolute junk.

4th party? You might as well have said 37th party to really drive the hyperbole home!

There are some legitimate antivirus apps and those do tend to report PCVARK and similar apps as PUP (Potentially Unwanted Programs).

Yes, and glad we are for them.

There are large number of scam apps in the Mac App Store and it would not be surprising if many of them set off various antivirus apps, legitimately or not.

In the world of technology, "legitimately" is a fairly flexible term. Some people would call Apple's actions as predatory as any virus and they'd have a point, but here we are.

Apple provide antivirus software with the operating system.

That would be news. I shudder to think what that would look like.

Apple's approach to security is to build a "trust fortress" that you need to be in the secret club to enter, unless you decide to let them in anyway. Ideally, third party software runs in "sandboxes", but if you stray into using software that hasn't been blessed by Cupertino, there ye be dragons, and you could easily run software that does the nasty to your system software. Be advised the App Store has its share of this kind of software.

While sandboxing is not a bad approach, the "unknown software publisher" warnings are pointless because if you just obeyed them you'd be unable to write your own software, for instance.

You don’t need anything else. If you do find yourself regularly getting tricked into installing adware, then you might benefit from a legitimate antivirus app like MalwareBytes. Otherwise, your just wasting your money and cpu.

As much as I hate virus software, you still need it. A manual Malwarebytes scan should really all you need though, especially since commercial tools like Norton are completely useless when it comes to PUP-installed malware. (That's the real virus software if you ask me, but you probably won't. In any case, as long as Apple allows software from sleazeworks like SysTweak- a vendor long held in ill repute- don't depend on the App Store or "Apple provided virus software" to protect you.

While constant virus scanning and running all of the extra rubbish to "protect" you from viruses will generally render your computer slow and crippled just badly as any malware could, you'd be wise to give your machine a check once if you ever install software you think might have been shady. There is plenty out there from allegedly trustworthy outlets.

hinder90 wrote:

4th party? You might as well have said 37th party to really drive the hyperbole home!

I was specifically talking about virustotal. The first party is Apple, the vendor. The second party is the customer. Third party is Mac software that is neither Apple nor the user. Virustotal doesn’t qualify for as any of that. It is often cited as a source of evidence of malware or malware activity by people who completely misunderstand it or are using it for malicious ends themselves. It should not be relied upon for any reason.

Some people would call Apple's actions as predatory as any virus

Anyone doing that would be so far outside reality that any attempt at rational discussion would be pointless.

Apple provide antivirus software with the operating system.

That would be news. I shudder to think what that would look like.

It wouldn’t be news because Apple has provided antivirus software as part of the operating system for several years now. Apple’s software usually does not flag any PUP (Potentially Unwanted Programs) like some 3rd party antivirus apps. Legitimate software (software distributed by a company, with lawyers) usually has to do something egregious for Apple to block it. Personally, I think that’s a shame.

While sandboxing is not a bad approach, the "unknown software publisher" warnings are pointless because if you just obeyed them you'd be unable to write your own software, for instance.

Sorry, but that statement is wrong and betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of how Apple’s security works.

While constant virus scanning and running all of the extra rubbish to "protect" you from viruses will generally render your computer slow and crippled just badly as any malware could, you'd be wise to give your machine a check once if you ever install software you think might have been shady. There is plenty out there from allegedly trustworthy outlets.

Most people have no idea if the software they have installed might be shady. Most people have no idea what software they have installed.

You are welcome to continue the fight against software you think is shady. Unfortunately, you are just one voice on a very big forum, on an even bigger internet. You can’t ever hope to reach the same audience as even a minor scam-ware developer. All you need is a little bit of money to blanket a few shady sites with scam ads. People will click through and install. In many cases, they already have MalwareBytes installed. But you have to pay for the active protection. I think Apple realizes the futility better than most. Good luck!

You clearly do not understand the Apple environment and safety paradigm. There is no reason to run any third party anti virus app.

Effective defenses against malware and ot… - Apple Community

No doubt false positives.

Don't use Duplicates Cleaner !

Uninstall your third party apps that claim to protect, clean, manage, boost performance, etc.

Well, there was no malware on the copy I got from the App Store. Not sure what the checksum is supposed to indicate.

Here's the SHA256 Checksum for the Calculator: 4C42676C61DAFE7DEED43F714D8783184896C9CDD7B0C7D75A889D463F701B1A

You really should stop using third party virus tools on your Mac.

FWIW, I spoke with Thomas and basically they flag anything from PCVARK as a PUP.