Originally Posted by
Christopher Null
Macintosh botnet on the march
A common refrain when I post about Windows security vulnerabilities like
Conficker is "Get a Mac!" thanks to their long history of being
comparatively secure next to Windows PCs.
Those days may be about to change. Already this year a handful of
exploits that target the Mac platform have begun to trickle out. Now
comes news that one of those attacks which infect MacOS computers
exclusively continues to spread and has been at least moderately
successful in forming a botnet, a network of computers that come under
the control of a remote attacker, usually with the goal of creating a
coordinated attack on other machines (or, for example, sending spam en
masse).
The new network of infected machines is being called the iBotnet and is
so far limited in its prevalence -- only a few thousand Macs are thought
to be infected to date -- but as CNN notes, it's another ominous step
toward the end of the Mac's free ride on the security train, as malicious
hackers target the increasingly popular computing platform now that it's in
use by a significant enough number of people to merit attention.
The botnet is being spread through pirated copies of the iWork
application, the same mechanism I wrote about in January. But efforts to
thwart the spread of the Trojan horse appear to have been stymied, as
the botnet continues to rumble along. Apple says it is working to secure
its machines from the attack (well of course it is...), but some are now
starting to wonder whether the time is here for Mac users to consider
installing security software, the kind of protection which is absolutely
required on PCs these days.
Many of the Mac faithful say it's not yet mandatory, but I'm not so sure.
Today's Mac malware may be relatively rare and largely innocuous, but
that usually indicates that worse storms are on the horizon as hackers
figure out how to take an idea and run with it. Better to protect yourself
now before something truly awful makes headlines
Should you install a Mac security application today? It might not be such
a bad idea. And, some good news: at least one free anti-malware
application is available for the Mac, too.
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks