CyberSecurity scientists Safetydetectives reported Friday about a data violation involving virtualmacosx.com, an online provider of cloud services targeting Mac users. The violation involves data that “belongs to 10,000 of its customers.”
Safetydetectives says it found an entry that published a virtualmacosx.com database in a forum known for data leaks, cracks and more. Access to the data was given to those who answered or liked the post. The data contained sensitive information, including full names, financial data, contact information and passwords. Analysis of Safetydetectives led to the fact that they thought the data is genuine, but the researchers “refrained from testing the exposed credentials” to verify the data due to ethical concerns.
Virtualmacosx.com describes itself as an “affordable, Mac-based home online. We offer Mac OS X server plans hosting our modern data centers in western Canada (serving America and Pacific Rim) and eastern Canada (serving America and the Middle East/Europe).” The plans start at $ 12.75 per Month for one hour of use a day and 2 GB of storage space.
According to Trustpilot, the Canada-based virtualmacosx.com a rating of 2.5 out of 5 in Trustpilot reviews, with 48 percent of the reviews classified as 1-star. Safetydetectives calls itself a Pro-Bono “Publishing Group of CyberSecurity experts, confidentiality researchers and technical product reviewers.”
Macworld contacted VirtualMacosx.com via E email to comment on the report.
How to protect yourself from data violations
The violation covered here does not involve a macOS vulnerability, but one at a service provider. It is not known how an external party gained access to virtualmacosx.com’s database and whether the data was encrypted or not. If it was encrypted, it looks like the threat agent had the keys to decrypt the data.
In a case where you believe your data was exposed in a data violation, there are a few steps to take to protect yourself:
- If you continue to use the service that was violated, change your password and enable two-factor verification.
- Check your credit report and freeze it. This will help block unauthorized approvals for financial services made in your name. If you need to sign up for a service (such as a loan or credit card), you can temporarily release your account so that a credit check can be performed.
- Check your items for all your financial institutions. If you access them online, change your passwords and enable two-factor verification. Some institutions also provide warnings when attempting to access your account.
- Use a service that I have Benn Pwned to see if your E -Mail address was involved in a data violation.
Apple releases security fixes through us updates, so it is important to install them as soon as possible. Macworld has several guides to help, including a guide on whether you need antivirus software, a list of Mac viruses, malware and Trojans and a comparison of Mac safety software.