New Malware Affecting Mac Users
A new malicious website has plagued itself on some unsuspecting Mac users recently. It has been classified under the term “ransomware”, which is essentially malware that restricts access to a computer until a payment is made by the victim/user. In this case, the ransomware disguises itself as an official FBI webpage, attempting to scare the user into paying a fine for any copyright infringement they may have committed to regain access to their computer.
This particular site is inadvertently visited by the user while browsing the web. In one example from Malwarebytes Blog, the author performs a search for Taylor Swift. One of the search results returned is the aforementioned ransomware page, that (seemingly) proceeds to take his Mac hostage. The author escapes the page by going to “Reset Safari” under “Safari” in the menu bar. This action obviously will only work if the user is running Safari. Under other browsers, you can Force Quit, and then hold down the Shift key upon restarting the application to bypass the “restore from crash” function.
All in all, this website does not pose any immediate risk to your Mac; its only intention is to trick the victim into inputting credit card info/paying the “fine.” As always, the best protection against malware like this is to be aware of it. Using common sense is also always helpful — obviously, the FBI is not going to remotely take over your computer with a web page, and force you to pay a fine for copyright infringement.