What's up, is Mac Keeper a bug? Virus? Malware?

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Level 1

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What's up, is Mac Keeper a bug? Virus? Malware?

I have recently received MacKeeper 911. I am leary...it looks to be from Russia, could not find the official Mac stamp of approval, should I remove it immediatly and what are the steps?

iMac

Posted on Jan 31, 2012 7:44 PM

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Answer 1

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steve359

Level 6

17,169 points

Jan 31, 2012 7:48 PM in response to Jayonesgirl

Remove immediately. It and MacDefender are two of the best documented "viruses that masquerade as software" to be found.

You need no AV for Mac. If you really want to get something get ClamXav which is free and non-intrusive.

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Answer 2

MadMacs0

Level 5

5,221 points

Jan 31, 2012 8:33 PM in response to steve359

steve359 wrote:

Remove immediately. It and MacDefender are two of the best documented "viruses that masquerade as software" to be found.

There are some big differences between the two, although the advice to avoid is certainly appropriate. The MacDefender series were deemed Trojans by the AV world and apparently came from some crooks that have since been arrested for some part of that scheme.

MacKeeper is not at all a bug, virus or even malware, though I think it might qualify as a Potentially Unwanted Application (PUA) judging from all the complaints.

For Jayonesgirl, here is some pertinent reading Beware MacKeeper and How to Uninstall MacKeeper. and search the Forum for dozens of dissatisfied customers and a couple who seem happy with it.

Although the ZeoBIT developer does have a Russian office, they are located in Sunnyvale, CA, a few miles from my house and they had one of the largest booths at Macworld|iWorld San Francisco last week. By far the most booth bimbo's of any vendor I've seen in years.

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Answer 3

BDAqua

Level 10

238,979 points

Jan 31, 2012 10:09 PM in response to Jayonesgirl

I call it SlimeWare, do get rid of it.

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Answer 4

Jayonesgirl Author

Level 1

0 points

Feb 1, 2012 1:33 PM in response to Jayonesgirl

Talked via email to my Machero...MacDaddy here in Seattle. He said it may or may not be Malware ie it may or may not be harmful but he has heard it seems to trigger bad things with other programs that I may already have installed. So, for example, those PC applications that are already not mac made...they may start hiccuping. So I think I will remove it asap. I will try the links from MadMacs and see if I can figure out the uninstall. Love this forum, thanks so much.

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