A Mac-specific piece of spyware was uncovered this week. Called “OSX/OpinionSpy” or “PremierOpinions”, the spyware is bundled with some free Mac downloads; particularly “free screensavers”. Affected installers are actively being distributed from both 7art-screensavers . com (*do not visit*) and a few popular Mac download sites. But there’s happy news for all of our Mac-using friends: we’ve created a small, free utility that will let you instantly detect + (optionally) remove this spyware. For more details (and download links for the free tool), please see: OSX/OpinionSpy Detection + Removal Tool Mac OS X 10.5, 10.6 - Free http://blog.javacoolsoftware.com/2010/06/osxopinionspy-free-removal-tool/ Best regards, -Javacool
Hi, I just learned about the OSX/OpinionSpy malware this evening and when I looked through my screensaver list I realized I had several screensavers from 7art. I trashed all those, but wonder if my Mac could have been infected by any of them. Unfortunately, this is an iMac running OS X 10.4.11 that was supplied by my employer and I'm not at liberty to update it to 10.5 or 10.6, which are required by your removal tool. Is there a OSX/OpinionSpy removal program that will work on OS X 10.4?
After a few quick tweaks, we were able to build a version of the tool that should run on Mac OS 10.4.11. Direct Download Link: <removed> (Note: It has only been tested on 10.5 and 10.6, as we do not have a 10.4 machine at the moment. But if it runs on your machine - is it a PPC or Intel-based Mac? - it should function fine.) Best regards, -Javacool
Thank you! This is an Intel iMac running 10.4.11, early 2007 vintage. I'll try out the program and let you know how it does.
Thanks for the report - I do believe we've got that fixed. New download below. Direct Download Link: http://www.javacoolsoftware.net/downloads/OpinionSpy_Removal_Tool_3.zip (Technical Details: Although we had specified that the app was compatible with 10.4.11, there is a bug in 10.4.11 itself that causes such a version compatibility check to fail.) Best regards, -Javacool
Thanks for the update. We're working on getting our hands on a 10.4 machine locally so we can test this. I'll keep this thread updated with results. Best regards and thanks, -Javacool