The time is now; the bugs are coming out.  Their target is us!

The MacDefender bug is an Internet browsing drive-by download*.  This article says that the current version affects Safari users who surf Google Images.  That will change as the malware evolves over time.  We can assume that any Mac browser will be affected soon.

This bug looks much like the Internet Security bug that has plagued Windows users since 2008.  It brings up a window on the Mac that shows the Mac is infected with malware (showing a list of bugs) and that MacDefender is the only way to remove them and restore your Mac.  As I have noted several times in this blog, the only infection on the computer is MacDefender itself.

When you click on a button in the window, you are asked for credit card information and are told what it will cost to remove the malware.  THIS IS AN ATTEMPT TO GET YOUR CREDIT CARD INFORMATION!!

I have said this before to Windows owners, so maybe you Mac folk haven't heard it from me yet:


That is critical, and you must be aware all the time that there are people out there just foaming at the mouth to get at your identity so they can sell it.

If, perchance my message here gets to you too late and you have already paid the ransom, call your credit card company immediately and cancel that card.  They will issue you a new one quickly.  By doing this, you aren't liable for any charges to the card made by someone else after you have given notice.  You also foil the bad guys, because the information they have on you is now no longer valid, at least for that card.

As an aside, click this link to go through my blog and see the posts that are about identity theft and read them all.  You need to know what's out there and how to identify and handle the threats.

So, back to MacDefender.  The first article I linked to (back in the second paragraph) tells you how to remove the problem, as well as how to prevent getting it in the first place.  Read it carefully and implement the solutions.  If it's too much for you and you live within 15 miles of Roswell, GA, email me at sid"at"plaitsolutions"dot"com, where you replace the "at" with "@" and the "dot" with a period.  I can come to you and take care of it.

If you don't live nearby, email me and we can work out a remote access connection so I can fix it for you long distance.  There is a charge for this service, depending on how long it takes to clean up your machine. 

However, do not wait too long to get the problem resolved.  On Windows PCs it eventually corrupts Windows and becomes much more costly and difficult to fix.  While I hear that MacDefender doesn't do that right this minute (3 May 2011, 1:58PM), it may very well evolve to that level of intrusion shortly.

My next post will tell you who has security software for Macs that I recommend.  Some of it is free!

Added 9 May 2011

I just found out that MacDefender also comes as "MacProtector" and "Apple Security"!  There may be other names, so BE CAREFUL!

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* - a "drive-by download" is done by the bad guys putting software on the site you are at that reroutes your browser to a secondary, secret site.  You never see it, because it all happens too fast.  While at that site, MacDefender is downloaded to your computer.  You then go to the site you requested without knowing you went somewhere else first.  You "drove-by" that secret site and got infected.