Category Archives: Adware Doctor

Sen. Rubio wants answers from Apple on privacy-violating app

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Earlier this month, news broke that one of Apple’s most popular paid applications had been surreptitiously collecting user data and browser history and sending it to a server in China. On Wednesday, Sen. Marco Rubio wrote to Apple demanding answers on why it reportedly took the tech giant weeks to address the issue. “For a company that prides itself on prioritizing user privacy and security, this delayed response is extremely disconcerting,” Rubio, R-Fla., wrote to Apple CEO Tim Cook. The application in question is Adware Doctor, a scanning tool that offers to remove adware from Mac computers. After security researchers published evidence on Sept. 7 that Adware Doctor was violating Apple’s data collection and storage rules, the company pulled it from the Mac App Store. But that was nearly a month after researcher @privacyis1st said he alerted Apple to the issue. Rubio, who has repeatedly raised national security concerns about technology […]

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The Adware Doctor Case Highlights the Lack of Safety in Mac App Store

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If you’re an Apple fan or owner of their devices, perhaps you heard. The very popular anti-malware app for Mac called Adware Doctor was removed from the Mac App Store. The reason? The app was collection browsing histories, as well…Read more
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Popular Mac app grabs your browser history and sends it to China

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Apple’s famous walled garden isn’t keeping all the undesirables out. New research on one of the most profitable apps in the official Mac App Store reveals developers are side-stepping around Apple’s controls to surreptitiously grab a user’s browser history and send it back a company in China. Even though it’s a clear violation of Apple’s data collection and storage rules, the app remains up and running in the store. Apple has not yet commented on the subject. Former NSA staffer and notorious Mac hacker Patrick Wardle and security researcher @privacyis1st published research on Friday spotlighting Adware Doctor, a popular anti-adware application that is the fifth-most popular paid app in the Mac App Store. The app, the researchers write, steals browser histories and a handful of other private information that it should not be able to access, including App Store searches and  processes running on a machine. “Our research uncovered blatant […]

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Popular Mac Anti-Adware App ‘Surreptitiously Steals’ Your Browsing History, Researchers Say

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Researchers allege the developers of Adware Doctor, the 4th highest ranking paid app in the Mac App Store, have found a way to bypass Apple restrictions and collect sensitive user data. Continue reading Popular Mac Anti-Adware App ‘Surreptitiously Steals’ Your Browsing History, Researchers Say→