A piece of Malware has made its way around the Internet targeting unsuspecting Mac users to install it. While OS X is typically built to prevent being infected by a virus or malware, Apple stepped in to clean up the mess.
MACDefender – The Malware In Question
The piece of Malware in question, MACDefender, was distributed as an App meant to clean up your Mac and protect it from potential threats. The irony of this was MACDefender would’ve been the threat you needed protection against but that didn’t stop from downloads sky rocketing and for users to flood Apple’s support line for help with the issue.
The App originally required a user password to run so it technically was no fault of the OS and rather user ignorance in most cases but MACDefender was modified to run with a password which started to wreak more havoc. The App held user’s systems hostage asking them to pay up.
Apple Kills MACDefender
Apple released an update – Security Update 2011-003 — to remove all traces of MACDefender for Snow Leopard. The update is Apple’s first foray into anti-virus software for the Mac however. The new update automatically scans for MACDefender and all of its variants then warns you about the potential havoc it could wreak and OS X will urge you to move it the trash.
