Journal oblonski's Journal: Mac Users Targeted with Nasty Malware
An article over at NewsFactor Network reveals what many have feared, and yet anticipated, for a long time: malware on the Mac. Yep, one of the first sighting in the wild has been confirmed and guess where it first appeared on the radar screens: that's right, a porn site that changes the MAC's DNS settings and redirect the user to a different site.
From the article:
The incident was first reported by Intego, a Mac security software Relevant Products/Services vendor. Sunbelt Software, the SANS Institute's Internet Storm Center (ISC), Sophos, and McAfee have confirmed the Trojan. Dubbed "OSX.RSPlug.a," the Trojan changes the Mac's Domain Name System (DNS) settings to redirect unsuspecting users to different sites.
"The whole Trojan is relatively simple and works almost exactly the same as its brother for Windows," said ISC analyst Bojan Zdrnja in a warning the center posted on Thursday. "The bad guys are taking Mac seriously now. This is a professional attempt at attacking Mac systems, and they could have been much more damaging."
Porn Opens the Door
The family of malware Relevant Products/Services that is targeting Macs is called "Puper." It's been plaguing Windows users since 2005. One of the most notable cases of Puper attacks was exploits on infected MySpace pages.
In the Mac attack, people who are searching for porn on the Internet may find it. But they may also find a nasty payload when they encounter a popup window instructing them that QuickTime needs to install new software so they can view the videos. If the user tries to install the codec, a script then creates a scheduled task to change the Mac's DNS to point to a malicious server.
From the article:
The incident was first reported by Intego, a Mac security software Relevant Products/Services vendor. Sunbelt Software, the SANS Institute's Internet Storm Center (ISC), Sophos, and McAfee have confirmed the Trojan. Dubbed "OSX.RSPlug.a," the Trojan changes the Mac's Domain Name System (DNS) settings to redirect unsuspecting users to different sites.
"The whole Trojan is relatively simple and works almost exactly the same as its brother for Windows," said ISC analyst Bojan Zdrnja in a warning the center posted on Thursday. "The bad guys are taking Mac seriously now. This is a professional attempt at attacking Mac systems, and they could have been much more damaging."
Porn Opens the Door
The family of malware Relevant Products/Services that is targeting Macs is called "Puper." It's been plaguing Windows users since 2005. One of the most notable cases of Puper attacks was exploits on infected MySpace pages.
In the Mac attack, people who are searching for porn on the Internet may find it. But they may also find a nasty payload when they encounter a popup window instructing them that QuickTime needs to install new software so they can view the videos. If the user tries to install the codec, a script then creates a scheduled task to change the Mac's DNS to point to a malicious server.
Mac Users Targeted with Nasty Malware More Login
Mac Users Targeted with Nasty Malware
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