Apple This

Are you one of the many people who has been having problems with annoying malware in the form of Mac Defender? If so, you will be pleased to know that Apple has recently posted a support document explaining the steps you can take in order to avoid or remove Mac Defender. Apple also stated that it would release an update to Mac OS X in order to automatically find and remove the malware.

Apple’s support document describes the malware as a phishing scam that automatically redirects users from a legitimate website to a fake program telling the users that their computer has been infected with a virus even though it really hasn’t.

In addition to that, the websites then offer users fake antivirus protection in order to solve the false problem. The protection that is offered comes under many names including Mac Defender, Mac Protector and Mac Security with the word “MAC” spelled in all caps.

The removal steps set forth by Apple detail quitting the offending app and deleting it from your Utilities folder that it is installed to by default. This particular malware’s primary goal is to attempt to gain the user’s credit card information by selling them a solution they don’t need to a problem they don’t have.

Many supporters of Windows PCs are using this as proof that Mac computers are now experiencing malware and virus problems just like the kind Windows PCs have experienced for the past 20 years. Security Expert Charlie Miller has downplayed these malware threats on Mac computers.

Miller stated in an interview, “Microsoft recently pointed out that 1 in 14 downloads on Windows are malicious. And the fact that there is just one piece of Mac malware being widely discussed illustrates how rare malware still is on the Mac platform.”

Miller also explained that while antivirus software can help protect your system from being attacked, “it’s expensive, uses system memory and reduces battery life. At some point soon, the scales will tip to installing antivirus, but at this point, I don’t think it’s worth it yet for most people.”

Apple recommends that Mac users “should exercise caution any time they are asked to enter sensitive personal information online.” Apple also noted that, “it provides security updates for the Mac exclusively through Software Update and the Apple Support Downloads site.”

This scam pops up a fake website scanner that looks similar to iTunes and depicts itself as being an “Apple Security Center”, which is apparently modeled after the “Windows Security Center” that Microsoft added to its own products.

Source: Apple Insider – Apple posts instructions on how to remove Mac Defender malware

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Intel’s new line of Sandy Bridge processors is coming out soon, and when they hit, they will be available on Windows PCs first and, undoubtedly, Mac computers later. But “later” just wasn’t good enough for some people, because hackers have already installed Mac OS X on a Sandy Bridge Processor.

That’s right, before the formal unveiling of Intel’s next-generation of processors, hackers have managed to get Mac OS X up and running on a Sandy Bridge processor even though Intel said that this ability would be available in the future. People really seem to be getting impatient these days.

The official introduction of Intel’s new processors was at CES 2011. These new processors are the first to combine visual and 3D graphics technology along with microprocessors on the same chip. This new line of products, which earned the codename “Sandy Bridge”, houses newly designed Intel HD graphics on each 32nm die allowing for a serious performance boost.

And while we will see this technology on Mac devices in the future, hackers just could not wait. In a post from Engadget, Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard was installed on what they called a “Hackintosh” computer that was running the Intel Core i5-2500K CPU. Also noteworthy is that it had a clock speed of 3.30GHz.

This device also achieved a Geekbench Score of 8874 as well as an Xbench Score of 282.40. This is partly boosted by 6MB of L3 cache in the Sandy Bridge chip and hackers were able to achieve this by utilizing a patched kernel.

Intel, even though they are prepared for the official unveiling at CES, issued a press release earlier this week showing off some of the features of these second generation core processors. Intel noted that more than 500 desktop and laptop PCs from all of the major computer manufacturers are expected to house the chips in 2011.

According to Mooly Eden, Vice President and General Manager of the PC Client Group at Intel, “The new second Generation Intel Core processors represent the biggest advance in computing performance and capabilities over any other previous generation. The built-in visual capabilities enabled by these new processors are stunning. This, combined with improved adaptive performance, will revolutionize the PC experience in a way that is obvious for every user to see and appreciate – visibly smarter performance.”

A rumor that floated around last month stated that Apple would be producing new MacBooks in 2011 that would rely on Intel’s Sandy Bridge processor. This means that NVIDIA graphics solutions may not be included in some models 13 inches and smaller. Models 13 inches and under, as it has been suggested, would house Sandy Bridge-only graphics.

Expect big things to come from this second generation of processors, whether they be on a Mac device or not.

Source: Apple Insider