I know MacDefender is a virus. What about MacDefender? Is that legit?
Is Mac Defender legiot? I know MacDefender is NOT!'
iMac, Mac OS X (10.5.6)
I mean is MacKeeper legit? MacDefender is a virus.
12 replies
MacDefender is a trojan, not a virus. In order to protect yourself its good to understand the differences.
http://www.reedcorner.net/guides/macvirus/ will give you a lot of information about viruses and other malware.
Mackeeper may or may not be legit, but most of the experienced people on this forum would tell you to stay away from it. There are better choices at no cost if you really want some anti virus protection. I suggest you read Thomas Reed's article and then make your decision.
laverne's mom
Message was edited by: laverne's mom
As Mum says, it is a trojan not a virus. There are NO viruses ever discovered that can affect Apple OS X, but trojans are another matter.
Newly discovered malicious software dubbed "MACDefender" (also goes under the name of MacProtector, MacGaurd or MacSecurity) takes aim at users of the Mac OS X operating system by automatically downloading a file through JavaScript. But users must also agree to install the software, leaving the potential threat limited.
The new MACDefender malware was first noted on April 30, 2011 by users of the Apple Support Communities, and was highlighted on May 2 by antivirus company Intego. If the right settings are enabled in Apple's Safari browser, MACDefender can be downloaded to a system after a user clicks a link while searching the Internet.
"When a user clicks a link after performing a search on a search engine such as Google, this takes them to a web site whose page contains JavaScript that automatically downloads a file," Intego said. "In this case, the file downloaded is a compressed ZIP archive, which, if a specific option in a web browser is checked (Open 'safe' files after downloading in Safari, for example), will open."
More details here:
http://www.reedcorner.net/news.php/?p=138#more-138
However, users must still agree to install the malware after it downloads. After the ZIP file is extracted, users are presented with the "MACDefender Setup Installer," at which point they must agree to continue and provide an administrator password.
Because of the fact that users must agree to install the software and provide a password, Intego categorized the threat with MACDefender as "low."
Users on Apple's support forums advise killing active processes from the application using the Mac OS X Activity Monitor. MACDefender can then be deleted from the Applications folder by dragging it into the trash. There is also a 'MacDefenderKiller' uninstaller available here:
http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/38520/macdefenderkiller
On May 24 Apple issued this Knowledge Base Article on how to avoid or remove the MacDefender malware:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4650
But that does not mean it is over. On May 25, MacGuard is launched:
Further information here:
http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/index.cfm?olo=email&NewsID=3282245
Apple released Security Update 2011-003 on May 31, 2011, which adds malware detection and removal for the "MAC Defender" scam and delivers a daily update mechanism for updating subsequent malware definitions. This is for Snow Leopard only.
The security update for Mac OS X 10.6.7 is available from Software Update or the company's Downloads page. Installing the update does not require a system reboot.
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1387
(The malware is not to be confused with MacDefender, the maker of geocaching software including GCStatistic and DTmatrix. The company noted on its site it is not affiliated with the malware.)
Malware spreads through search engines like Google via a method known as "SEO poisoning." The sites are designed to game search engine algorithms and show up when users search for certain topics.
It's malware not a virus. It's known by different names. MacKeeper / MacSecurity / MacDefender / MacGuard...
Never accept unsolicited offers from the internet.
I think we have that covered Carolyn! 🙂
It's malware not a virus.
Carol, please note that malware is anything you don't want on your computer. It's short for "malicious software". Which means a virus, Trojan, worm or any other purposely destructive or intrusive software is "malware". You can't exclude a virus from the definition.
MacKeeper is not a Trojan or a virus, but do yourself a big favor and read through all the user comment's at its MacUpdate listing:
One of the Mac users I help to support had it on her Mac.
From what I saw of it, I strongly recommend that you avoid Mac Keeper at all cost. It is a pig for resources and does absolutely nothing in return for them.
I removed it from her Mac and it started running so much better.
After reading the adverts for it, the primary market appears to be users who are either totally non-computer literate or those who recently switched over from Windows where things like this are necessary.
Allan
MacKeeper's marketing is highly misleading as well. If you Google something like MacKeeper review you will be led to all sorts of obviously planted "reviews".
MacDefender is a trojan horse and MacKeeper is not legit. MacKeeper, after the download and installation, says you have problams with your mac. I dont know if it fixes them or if they are actually there, but it wants you to pay money. It is kind of a rouge software. DON'T DOWNLOAD THE APPLICATION!
Why resurrect this 18 month old thread for that comment?
Allan
He seems to want to live in the past for some reason.
I know MacDefender is a virus. What about MacDefender? Is that legit?