F-Secure just found the first Mac rogue application and it’s called MacSweeper.

It claims to clean your Mac from compromising files and it will always find something to fix/clean and the only way to do that is to buy the program.

Once installed it will also randomly show a big popup window stating that your privacy is compromised and again prompt you to buy the program.

Even more telling that it’s a scam is the fact that when you visit the MacSweeper website with a PC and click on “Scan” it will tell you that you have security vulnerabilities in folders that only exists on Mac like system_root/home. Fake? Oh yeah…

Looking more at their website we found that they have copied the text describing the company directly from Symantec and just changed the name.

Rogue/fake software like this has been around for years on Windows (WinFixer, SpySheriff etc) and are designed to trick people into thinking that they have security problems and the only way to solve it is to buy the software. Up until now this has been a Windows-only problem but that’s not the case anymore.

So what does the first Mac rogue application really mean? It means that with Mac’s. growing popularity and growing user base comes certain problems that can’t be ignored. Mac users will increasingly come under attack from bad guys and this new rogue application and the constant stream of new variants of DNSChanger is proof of that. It doesn’t mean that Mac is becoming less secure in itself. But it means that Mac users have to watch out for social engineering tricks just like Windows users have had to do for years. MacSweeper’s sibling in the Windows world is called Cleanator.

Editor’s note

F-Secure Corporation protects consumers and businesses against computer viruses and other threats from the Internet and mobile networks. F-Secure’s award-winning solutions are available as a service subscription through more than 150 Internet service provider and mobile operator partners around the world, making F-Secure the global leader in this market. The solutions are also available as licensed products through thousands of resellers globally.

F-Secure has received the Frost & Sullivan 2007 award for Distribution Strategy Leadership. The company aspires to be the most reliable security provider, helping make computer and smartphone user’s networked lives safe and easy. This is substantiated by the company’s independently proven ability to respond faster to new threats than its main competitors.

Founded in 1988, and headquartered in Finland, F-Secure has been listed on the Helsinki Exchanges since 1999. The company has consistently been one of the fastest growing publicly listed companies in the industry. The latest news on real-time virus threat scenarios is available at the F-Secure Data Security Lab weblog at http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/

F-Secure Corporation

Hazel Hassan

Direct:+60322640366
Mobile:+60172724611
Email:hazlina.puspa.hassan {at} f-secure(.)com

CMCG India

Bidyananda

Tel- 01126236470

Mobile- 9811143686

Email : Bidyananda.h {at} cmcgindia(.)com