Someone needs Mac AV software

Stephen Withers
Tuesday, 18 January 2011 17:07

Opinion and Analysis

So you're convinced you don't need security software for your Mac? Well, you might not, but someone does.

Back in October, the Boonana/Jnanabot Trojan caused a stir as it was capable of infecting Windows and Mac OS X  computers. That was achieved in part through the use of a component written in Java so it could run on both platforms and install the appropriate OS-specific code. (It could run on Linux too, but didn't have a corresponding payload.)

The bait was a social network message containing a URL that supposedly delivered a video of the recipient or some other 'irresistible' item. When viewed on a Mac, the web page delivered an applet that asked for permission to access the computer. The applet then presents some photos while downloading more malware.

But that malware was packaged like many other pieces of software, and the familiar Installer window appeared on the screen. For the malware to work, users had to click through the steps of the installer, including the entry of the password for an account with administration rights.

Surely nobody fell for that, did they?

Actually, they did - Symantec researchers have used a vulnerability Boonana/Jnanabot's P2P functionality to collect information on the distribution of infections by operating system and version.

How many of the infected computers were Macs? Find out on page 2.