My wife yelled at me last week to come look at her computer. Her Mac had a big warning that malware had been found on her computer and to hit OK for a full scan.
She didn’t click the link and I closed the browser with ho apparent harm but that is the first time I’ve seen something like than on the Mac.
Well, every website you or I visit knows, as part of the HTTP protocol and environment, what kind of computer we have (both OS and browser (agent)). It's trivial to craft a message that is correct and specific to the user.
Which is why I've always laughed when Windows-style malware dialogs appear on my Mac or Linux boxes. I mean, how lame is that???
The fact that Mac OS-X is nearly bulletproof against real viruses -- at the BSD operating system level -- doesn't mean the applications don't have holes, and CERTAINLY doesn't do a d@mn thing to prevent the user from being a naive fool and clicking boxes they shouldn't.
The only defense against "social engineering" attacks on a Mac is identical to the defense on Windows -- a combination of fierce skepticism and the ability to resist temptation. Curiosity killed the cat, I've heard...
It’s called “Scareware” and on the Mac the only way it will do any damage is if you authorize it to do so by typing in your userid and password and allow it to install, as long as you don’t do that, even if you download the file, it will just sit there dormant, the program won’t run. On Windows it will just install even if the user is passive.
And on a Mac to remove it, it is fairly straightforward. Usually on Windows, you have to go in and edit the registry, which is a very dicey proposition for a non-techie, hence the need for anti-malware software to be installed on a PC.