So there's no malware in the wild for Mac OS X?
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From: Conor on 20 Apr 2010 07:30 Couldn't have been timed better: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/04/20/pinhead_mac_trojan/ Miscreants have created a new strain of Trojan horse malware that establishes a backdoor on compromised Macs. HellRTS-D (AKA Pinhead-B) disguises itself as the iPhoto photo application. The Trojan is a new variant of a strain of malware first reported in 2004, reports Mac security specialist firm Intego. The Trojan, developed using RealBasic, is designed to set up its own server on compromised systems, and from there send email or contact a remote server. HellRTS-D has been spotted on various online forums but is not thought to be spreading, so the threat posed by the malware is currently low. So there we have it. Real malware out in the wild and whilst its currently not spreading much, due to the Apple fanboi belief that their OS is immune, it might not stay that way for long. -- Conor I'm not prejudiced. I hate everyone equally.
From: Jim on 20 Apr 2010 07:40 On 2010-04-20, Conor <conor(a)gmx.co.uk> wrote: > So there we have it. Real malware out in the wild and whilst its > currently not spreading much, due to the Apple fanboi belief that their > OS is immune, it might not stay that way for long. Yes, I kind of thought you'd pop up again like some demented Wack-A-Mole. A couple of points: One, no-one here has said OS X is immune. No-one. Two, it's a Trojan. In other words it relies 100% on humans installing it. It's far and away from being the sort of web-driven drive-by-download that affects other OSs without their owners being aware. There have been others in the past as well - you used to find trojans pretending to be QuickTime codecs. You'd download one, 'install' it, and it altered your DNS entries to servers controlled by Bad People. OS X is just as vulnerable to trojans as any other OS. That's because trojans rely on social engineering to get installed, not holes in the TCP/IP stack or some other remotely accessible OS flaw. Jim -- Twitter:@GreyAreaUK "[The MP4-12C] will be fitted with all manner of pointlessly shiny buttons that light up and a switch that says 'sport mode' that isn't connected to anything." The Daily Mash.
From: James Dore on 20 Apr 2010 07:46 On Tue, 20 Apr 2010 12:30:44 +0100, Conor <conor(a)gmx.co.uk> wrote: > Couldn't have been timed better: > > http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/04/20/pinhead_mac_trojan/ > > Miscreants have created a new strain of Trojan horse malware that > establishes a backdoor on compromised Macs. > > HellRTS-D (AKA Pinhead-B) disguises itself as the iPhoto photo > application. The Trojan is a new variant of a strain of malware first > reported in 2004, reports Mac security specialist firm Intego. > > The Trojan, developed using RealBasic, is designed to set up its own > server on compromised systems, and from there send email or contact a > remote server. HellRTS-D has been spotted on various online forums but > is not thought to be spreading, so the threat posed by the malware is > currently low. > > > > So there we have it. Real malware out in the wild and whilst its > currently not spreading much, due to the Apple fanboi belief that their > OS is immune, it might not stay that way for long. > Only an idiot would claim any OS is free of Malware. But only the heir to the kingdom of idiots would install an iPhoto application downloaded from a Torrent that's a few megs in size, and then click through all the warnings, give their Admin password, and install the software. Under XP, they won't get that prompting, and would not have to even manually download the malware, since a cleverly-crafted web page could execute the code to do it for them. Don't worry chicken licken, the sky might be a bit wobbly, but it ain't falling yet. Best, -- James Dore New College IT Officer james.dore(a)new / it-support(a)new
From: Bella Jones on 20 Apr 2010 07:58 Jim <jim(a)magrathea.plus.com> wrote: > On 2010-04-20, Conor <conor(a)gmx.co.uk> wrote: > > > So there we have it. Real malware out in the wild and whilst its > > currently not spreading much, due to the Apple fanboi belief that their > > OS is immune, it might not stay that way for long. > > Yes, I kind of thought you'd pop up again like some demented Wack-A-Mole. Phrase of the week! :-D -- bellajonez at yahoo dot co dot uk
From: Peter Ceresole on 20 Apr 2010 12:26
James Dore <james.dore(a)new.ox.ac.uk> wrote: > Only an idiot would claim any OS is free of Malware. But only the heir to > the kingdom of idiots would install an iPhoto application downloaded from > a Torrent that's a few megs in size, and then click through all the > warnings, give their Admin password, and install the software. But it does seem that Conor lives in a world full of those kinds of idiots- but hey! He's been a Windows fan, so of course he does. -- Peter |