There is now similar antivirus malware that is targeting the MacIntosh operating system. If you or anyone in your office has a MAC computer, please read on to learn how to identify the malware, and what you should do to prevent an attack. 

     If you know any MAC users, I encourage you to forward this message to them. 

How To Spot the Malware and What It Does

    You’ll see a message or window in Safari or your e-mail application about your security being compromised.  The message will appear to come from a legitimate source (i.e. MacDefender, MacProtector, MacSecurity, MacGuard or some variation thereof) and will prompt you to  take some action.  If you follow the instructions, the malware will infect your computer and potentially stop your business relevant software applications from running.  It could also steal credit information that you enter into websites.

How To Prevent An Infection

     If you see the above message, IGNORE IT and don’t take any action requested by the prompt. 

     Close your internet browser, and don’t return to the website where you saw the message.  If you received the message in an e-mail, do not follow any instructions contained therein – just delete the e-mail.

How This Might Affect Your Business

Internet Access
Expect that general internet access will be slower than normal, even if none of your staff  is surfing for wedding videos.

E-mail Delivery
Expect delays for sending and receiving e-mail.

Downloads
Expect internet-based downloads to take much longer than usual.

Internet Calls and Web Conferencing
Calls and web-conferencing solutions such as Skype will be substantially slower.

Slowdowns may not happen at all, but I wanted to give you a heads up in the event you do experience slowdowns, and tell you the likely reason why.

Recommendations to Ease the Pain

     If there’s anything important you need to download, e-mail or research over the internet, do so today if possible.  Tomorrow, be patient and potentially revert back to “old skool” communications like the telephone. 

     I would expect that in the afternoon, internet life should be resume back to normal.