Adware Maleware App Mac Should Have

Adware Maleware App Mac Should Have

In theory, it means that any app you install on your Mac should have been checked by Apple for malicious components.

Advertisement As a recent article from Objective-Sees Patrick Wardle describes, theres a new Mac attack making the rounds that uses Gatekeeper-passing payloads to distribute a particularly popular and problematic piece of malware: OSX.Shlayer.

On Friday, twitter user Peter Dantini (PokeCaptain) noticed that the website homebrew.sh (not to be confused with the legitimate Homebrew website brew.sh), was hosting an active adware campaign.

If a user inadvertently visited homebrew.sh, after various redirects an update for Adobe Flash Player would be aggressively recommended..

Interestingly, Peter noticed the campaign originating from homebrew.sh, leveraged adware payloads were actually fully notarized Advertisement Its unclear how these programs were able to receive notarization from Apple, but users foolish enough to attempt to execute them wouldnt trigger any kind of warning about their contents.

And, when run, they would dump OSX.Shlayer onto your systemone of the most popular pieces of malware for macOS right now.

As this Kapersky blog post describes: It is worth noting that from the technical point of view, Shlayer is nothing special.

Its main executable file is a Bash script that consists of only four lines of code.

All that it does is decrypt and run another file that it brings along with it, which in turn downloads, decrypts, and executes another file, which does exactly the same.

In the end, this nesting doll of various malware installs several AdWare programs, hides them well and registers them to run at startup.

Grab something like the free version of Malwarebytes, run it, and clean up your system.

And to avoid bullshit like this in the future, reenergize your vigilance for navigating the online world.

You should never, ever download anything that has the words Adobe Flash and Player in it, especially if youre being cajoled to update said app.

You shouldnt also install any video players or codecs when prompted by a website unless you initiated it.

As in, its OK to go find and download VLC because you needed a great player and went out to find one.

Its not OK to mindlessly click accept, download, or anything like that when a website wants you to.

Dont let unknown programs install themselves as Safari extensions, sucker you into giving them new accessibility permissions, or do anything else on your Mac that doesnt feel like something you usually do.

Apples Gatekeeper could use a little tightening, but the best gatekeeper that can keep crap off your Mac is your brain.

David Murphy Posts Email Twitter David Murphy is Lifehackers Senior Technology Editor.

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Adware Maleware App For Mac