Scareware software makes its second round on Mac O/S

March 26th, 2008 by George Moore (Threats Analyst)

Today as the Mac user base grows larger, it becomes a larger target for malware than ever before. Earlier this year we saw a threat known as MacSweeper, the very first scareware application to target Mac users.

Today in our labs, we have discovered iMunizator, a new variation of the MacSweeper threat. Changing the name and download location of the application gives the author a chance to temporarily shed some of their already spreading bad reputation on the Web. However this new version is strikingly similar down to the Web page layout they choose to use. Just look at the screenshots below:

MacSweeper.com: Discovered winter of 2007/2008

iMunizator.com: Discovered March 2008

Previously a Trojan known as Zlob/MediaCodec crossed over onto the Mac platform while simultaneously still targeting Windows users. We have also seen similar scareware applications commonly known as rogue security applications on Windows. These malicious business models have proven to make money for their owners on Windows and its no wonder they want to cash in on the rest of the users on the Web. It looks like the coming year will most likely get a little turbulent for Mac users.

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