FriendshipGarden

GardenTalker · Posted: Fri Nov 09, 2007 2:34 pm Post subject: Malware Hits The Mac

Malware Hits The Mac

CUPERTINO, Ca. - What a McAfee security expert calls a "nasty" piece of
malware, Puper, has hit Apple Macintosh computers with a thud. "This is the first real malware that we have seen in the Mac," said Dave Marcus, security research and communications manager, McAfee Avert Labs. "It is written by the same group that has written other malware, and it is classified under the name Puper." Identified by security experts as a Trojan, Puper directs unsuspecting users to fake sites they do not intend to visit. Marcus noted that Puper is an annoying tampering with one's system by outside intruders.

"It is certainly not destructive in the classical virus sense, like it is
not trying to destroy files, or steal data from your machine, but it is
certainly doing something very malicious. It is certainly not destructive, I
would agree with that." More worrying for Marcus is what might be coming
down the pipe in terms of more serious malware threats for the Mac.
"Historically what they have done with malware is send you to a fake site to make do with your credentials or basically capture your confidential data and your identify information which is then sellable on the underground."
For the last three years Puper has plagued Windows and MySpace users and now Mac users are finding they are not immune, he reported. Up to now Mac users have assumed they never had to worry about anti-virus software and firewalls. "The Mac has had a very privileged position for quite some time in the sense that there has never been any malware written for it, and so Mac users in general should pay very close attention to where they are surfing." Like the advice offered to Windows users he is telling Mac users not to install any unfamiliar programs. "Be careful which sites you go to.

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Michigan Technology News, - http://www.mitechnews.com/articles.asp?id=7868