The Mac Attack: A Trojan Horse Virus attacks 550,000 Mac Computers

Among other things that Apple computers and other products boast, not being susceptible to viruses is one of them. However, it seems now that they may no longer be able to claim that. According to Dr Web, a Russian anti-virus firm, a Mac-specific Flashback Trojan has used a java hole to create a “zombie army of 550,000 Mac machines.” 56.6% of those were in the US, with Canada and the UK getting hit the next hardest at 19.8% and 12.8%, respectively.

So what does this mean for Mac users? Well, Apple patched the hole on Tuesday, so it looks hopeful that the malware will not continue to spread. No user interaction was necessary to get the virus. If you visited a particular site using an unprotected Mac computer, the virus would simply install itself.

As reported by The Register, Dr. Web explained: “Systems get infected with BackDoor.Flashback.39 after a user is redirected to a bogus site from a compromised resource or via a traffic distribution system. JavaScript code is used to load a Java-applet containing an exploit.”

Mac has thwarted virus attempts before. The general consensus for this situation seems to be that Apple dropped the ball because it took them so much longer to discover the strain than Windows did. Above all though, it is clear that virus attempts on Mac computers are becoming more difficult to avoid and the criminals writing them are becoming more astute.

Researchers from Intego, an antivirus provider, agree: “These changes show that the malware authors are sophisticated, and that they’re altering their code to ensure that the malware is not detected.”

 

popadminThe Mac Attack: A Trojan Horse Virus attacks 550,000 Mac Computers