Controversy of the Mac Ads Cleaner app

Mac users are still less likely to fall victim to severe malware than those running Windows, but security issues hitting OS X should not be underestimated. The biggest chunks of the conventional Mac infections pie chart are occupied by rogue security apps and offending programs that target web browsers. The latter type is widespread because, obviously, the Internet surfing environment is the weakest link in this platform’s defenses, and cybercrooks are aware of it. In a way, the application called Mac Ads Cleaner is a fusion of both categories. It claims to remove malicious add-ons and stop superfluous popup ads in Safari, Chrome and Firefox. But in fact, it ends up annoying the user big time and affecting system performance.

Mac Ads Cleaner is a crafty impostor. It looks just like your commonplace security and performance enhancement product, boasting a streamlined user console that catches the eye at once. Aside from obliterating adware, including intrusive browser extensions and homepage hijackers, the applet also promises to delete potentially fingerprintable information related to webmail, Flash and the system in general. Furthermore, by erasing various types of cache, logs and residual data generated by programs, the tool purportedly frees up disk space and improves the system performance. Unfortunately, there is a great deal of bluff in this whole marketing.

What this app is really good at is manipulation. It does its best to convince users that their machine needs urgent optimization and cleaning from harmful adware as well as other sorts of malicious code. Mac Ads Cleaner is installed in a stealth way, being bundled with regular, harmless software. Then, it begins displaying popup dialog boxes, insisting that the victim must activate its commercial version to complete the alleged security routine. To top it off, this adware won’t vanish through standard uninstall techniques, so the fix is a matter of a special procedure devised by IT experts.