Meet the World’s Most Controversial Mac App: MacKeeper

Publish an article about this controversial Mac app, and watch the animosity fill your comments section. Tales of pop-up ads, malfunctioning hard drives, and deleted data will flow in from disgruntled Mac owners.

The application MacKeeper claims to improve your Mac’s performance by freeing up disk space and performing a wide range of cleanup functions. It also claims to incorporate security tools and provide an anti-theft feature to help you find your Mac if it’s lost or stolen.

Recently, MacKeeper’s original developer ZeoBit agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit related to false advertising for MacKeeper. Even so, people keep on buying it; court documents allege 513,330 downloads in the U.S. alone.

Shady Marketing Methods

MacKeeper is marketed using an online ad vector called pop-under ads. These ads open new browser windows beneath open browser windows. They don’t immediately disrupt the Web-surfing experience, so Mac users don’t find the ads until they’re closing the browser. It’s also tough to tell which visited website delivers the pop-under ad.

Most of the pop-under ads feature the notorious Mac spinning rainbow wheel along with copy urging users to clean their Macs. Some ads also seem to suggest the Mac has an immediate security issue.

From the ad, past users downloaded a free version and got bombarded with ads for a premium version totaling $39.95. After ZeoBIT sold MacKeeper to Kromtech Alliance, the software switched to an SaaS model.

The pop-under ads weren’t the only shady advertising technique used to market MacKeeper. The company also allegedly posted thousands of fake positive reviews. To make itself look like a more legit Mac security product, MacKeeper’s marketers set up spoofed security company sites appearing to belong to ClamXav or MalwareBytes that featured “download” buttons directing users not to the security company’s site but to a MacKeeper download page.

As for ZeoBIT and Kromtech, they responded to complaints about MacKeeper’s advertising methods with apologies about affiliates who’ve gotten out of control. Although the application does license an Avira antivirus tool within its service suite, the tool is available elsewhere for free without downloading or subscribing to MacKeeper.

MacKeeper isn’t affiliated with ClamXav, MalwareBytes, or any other legitimate security company. Its anti-theft tool is also completely unnecessary, since Mac users can locate their Macs using iCloud’s “Find My iPhone” feature.

Is MacKeeper Actually Malware?

No proof exists that MacKeeper itself is malicious, but attackers have hijacked its vulnerabilities to deliver malware to Mac owners. One vulnerability in MacKeeper’s URL handler, which was recently patched, allowed remote attackers to control Macs after users visited websites via the Safari browser. Security experts say it’s one more reason not to trust MacKeeper as a security tool. Legitimate Mac security software won’t expose Macs to potential security threats.

To distribute the malware, attackers sent phishing emails to MacKeeper users containing a malicious URL. If unsuspecting Mac users clicked the link, a dialog box appeared, which warned the user about a possible malware infection and asked for the user’s admin password. Unfortunately, giving the password only allowed the malware to gain admin rights within the machine. Once they had access, attackers could remove existing files and also install new files from a remote computer.

To Buy or Not to Buy?

In a statement to Cult of Mac, MacKeeper PR director Jeremiah Fowler blamed some of MacKeeper’s woes on similarly named Mac Defender, a fake antivirus program that infected many Macs with Trojan malware back in 2011.

Although no one can prove that MacKeeper is a malicious program, it’s impossible to deny the litany of complaints from unhappy users. Given MacKeeper’s history of posting paid positive reviews, it’s impossible to know how many legitimately happy MacKeeper customers are out there.

According to Fowler, MacKeeper has been downloaded 20 million times with just a 3 percent refund rate. Despite the flood of complaints about negative effects on Mac performance, people keep downloading MacKeeper at astonishing rates.

ZeoBIT settled its class-action lawsuit without admitting fault. If you’re an affected MacKeeper user, you might receive an email notifying you of the settlement. Rust Consulting, the settlement administrator for Pennsylvania litigants, also plans to run Facebook ads to raise awareness of available class-action funds.