PRESS RELEASE

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Macs may be widely immune to malware and viruses, but this does not mean a Mac user can't be duped.

Mac users can be phished. Phishing is when a person visits a website and believing it to be legit and enters personal information. The website is actually a fake and set up specifically to get the user's personal information like credit cards, Social Security number, bank account information and online account details.

"There's an opinion that Mac OS cannot be infected with any spyware or virus since the system always asks for administrator privileges. Well that's true. But phishing is just as big a threat and a Mac doesn't have any way of defending against that," said Max Bugaenko, chief technical officer for BlumAlerts.com.

"So we developed BlumAlerts for Mac OS. This lets a user know if they are about to visit a website that has been linked to phishing."

The software can be downloaded from BlumAlerts.com. The website also has instructions for how to remove the software if the user later decides it is not needed.

"It works with all Mac OS and all Mac browsers," Mr. Bugaenko said. "It's not going to stop a user from visiting a suspicious website, but it will open an alert bubble when the algorithm finds anything suspicious."

Phishing may come from typing in an URL incorrectly or an email. It is far more common in email. A phisher sends out emails telling recipients their account is about to be suspended, terminated or the company needs to verify information. An unsuspecting user opens the email and clicks through to a phishing website.

After entering personal information, the site then usually directs the user to the real website, but by then it's too late. Personal information has been compromised.

BlumAlerts.com offers a lifetime license with a purchase of the full program.

That guarantees the user's software will stay updated by Blum Alerts. The software can also be downloaded and tested for free.

For more information visit BlumAlerts.com.