Cybersecurity Blog

Adware Doctor and Trend Micro apps quietly uploading data – 09/13/18

 

Adware a very popular app on the macOS  App Store, has been quietly sending browser history, a list of software you have downloaded and a list of processes running on your computer to  a server in China.  Unfortunately, this is only one of several apps that are collecting user data  without our knowledge, a clear violation of Apple’s policies. You can add Trend Micro’s Dr. Cleaner, Dr. Cleaner Pro, Dr. Antivirus, Dr Unarchiver, Dr. Battery and Duplicate Finder to the list.

The good news is they have been removed from the App Store.  The bad news is, you may have downloaded an app that is behaving badly.  Just like Android and PC users, Mac users must be cautious when downloading apps. Just because it is in the App Store, doesn’t mean it is safe.  Reviews and the number of downloads aren’t always reliable either.  Always be wary of apps that access data that it really doesn’t need to function.

Thankfully, the next version of the macOS, Mojave is supposed to require apps to get the explicit approval of users before they start collecting and shipping off sensitive data.  Yet another reason to keep your eye out for it and update as soon as it comes out.

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