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Fraud Application Imposes itself on Mac Users

Users of Mac are now in a position to claim their maiden instance of "scareware", a global scam in Microsoft's Windows in which counterfeit security software attempts to spook buyers into placing stake for the software, F-Secure, vendor for anti-virus, reported on January 15, 2008.

Senior Security Expert Patrik Runald at F-Secure based in Helsinki, Finland, claimed that a rouge software called MacSweeper always hunts out something to clean or fix but that can only happen by purchasing the program. Computerworld.co.nz reported this on January 15, 2008.

MacSweeper represents another kind of bogus application like those existing for Windows computers since years. It sells by the same approach that of duping people into believing there are security problems on their systems that could be only remedied by purchasing software that actually has no utility. MacSweeper essentially targets users of Mac.

According to Transmission Control Protocol-based response/query search, the WHOIS, the software's website MacSweeper.com, was registered in November last to a domain name, which runs on a Ukrainian server. The group that registered the DNS, however, disguised themselves with an unrecognizable service.

The program MacSweeper claims that it can clean all clues to surfing for embarrassing material like porn from Macs computer. The online edition of the application suggests that Windows computers are susceptible to vulnerabilities in only Mac folders, indicating that MacSweeper application is a fraud scheme.

According to Patrik Runald, MacSweeper closely resembles Windows scareware, the Cleanator, one of many fraud security programs that attempt to fool users into parting with their money and/or credit card account data in the pretext of being useful software.

Awarding Mac users' security with the maiden Mac bogus software, MacSweeper, Runald pointed out that Mac's increasing popularity brings certain unavoidable problems. Albeit it does not imply that Mac is losing its secured status, but it indeed implies that Mac users would be required to be cautious of social engineering tactics.

F-Secure's announcement follows just seven days after security researchers at Sunbelt Software warned that another variant of Trojan.DNSChanger had appeared that tries to trick website surfers into installing a corrupt media codec for viewing video files.

Related article: Fraud Tax Refund on Social Security Targeting Georgians

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