Apple Releases Malware Scanner, Fails To Catch Newest Variants

The MacDefender malware has made big news of late forcing Apple to release an update to Mac OSX that was supposed to provide a malware detection system that would eradicate the infect. Unfortunately the group behind the infection are very sophisticated and appear to be one step ahead of Apple.

"Apple's [antivirus] did not detect the new sample," said Peter James, a spokesman for Intego, the French security firm that originally reported the malicious software. Intego confirmed what ZDNet blogger Ed Bott reported earlier today, that the scammers had created a new version that wasn't detected by Apple's new defenses.

According to James, the new malware file is identified as "mdinstall.pkg" and if installed, plants the phony MacGuard software on the victim's Mac. Like the previous Mac Defender/Mac Guard malware attack this one is capable of installing itself without the need for the user to input their password.

On Tuesday, Apple released an update for Mac OS X 10.6, that warns users that they've downloaded fake Mac security software and scrubs machines already infected with the previous versions of the scareware.

It comes as little surprise to anyone that the team behind the Mac Defender/Mac Guard malware has made this move. It might be a bit shocking that they were able to act so quickly to counter Apple's move but that just goes to show that they are well organized and have found a niche that is making them money.