MacSweeper "scam" detailed in video

 

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Posted on 17 Jan 2008 at 08:59

F-Secure has posted a video detailing what it's calling the "first Mac rogue application", MacSweeper.

MacSweeper is sold for $40 and claims to scan Macs for viruses and other security flaws.

However, the F-Secure researchers ran the application on their Windows PC, and still found that it reported their "Mac" was infected. According to F-Secure, the scan always find a fault that needs to be fixed, even if there's nothing to be found.

The video also highlights some of the tell-tale signs that the site is potentially dangerous, including its use of text and graphics stolen from legitimate sites including Symantec and Kaspersky.

The video has elicited a response supposedly from MacSweeper support. "We are really trying to make a good software ... the problem is that we are using selling partners that forces us to use this marketing type," says a statement, posted on the F-Secure blog. "We would like to leave them, we don't want to completely destroy Good Name of MacSweeper application. I would like to say sorry for all inconveniences that we could bring to you, but believe MacSweeper is meant to be a useful application."

However, F-Secure remains unconvinced, claiming the MacSweeper operation is likely to represent the beginning of a new trend towards targeting Macs.

"It doesn't mean that Mac is becoming less secure in and of itself," notes F-Secure researchers Patrik Runald. "But it does mean that Mac users will have to watch out for social engineering tricks just like Windows users have had to do for years."

Author: Stuart Turton