I was listening to one of my favorite radio shows, the weekly news quiz program Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me, on National Public Radio last week when I heard something quite disturbing. The question was: “Computer security experts reported that a new virus that specifically targets has been discovered.” And, according to host Peter Sagal, the answer was, “Mac computers.”
I’m sorry Peter, but much as I love your show , I believe your answer is both incorrect and misleading. Unfortunately, other sources including CNN and Fox News have carried similar misinformation. Let me try to set the record straight.
Flame on.
• First: The so-called virus that raised a ruckus in the news in late April isn’t a virus at all. Rather, it’s a Trojan horse known as OSX.Trojan.iServices.A (sometimes referred to as iBotNet). While this may be splitting hairs, a Trojan horse is not a virus. The Wikipedia definition of a Trojan horse is: A class of computer threats (malware) that appears to perform a desirable function but in fact performs undisclosed malicious functions that allow unauthorized access to the host machine. In the case of OSX.Trojan.iServices. A, the malicious content has only been found in bootleg copies of Apple’s iWork ’09 productivity suite and Adobe Photoshop CS4 found on BitTorrent trackers and other sites containing links to pirated software.
• Second: OSX.Trojan.iServices.A isn’t new. In fact, Intego, a popular vendor of security software products for Macs and PCs, first reported it on Jan.22. Why it took until late April to hit the mainstream media is anyone’s guess, but it’s nothing new to savvy Mac users who have been hearing about it for months.
• Third: Only a tiny number of Mac users were affected. If you were among them, and you provided the bogus iWork ’09 or Photoshop CS4 installer with your Admin password, your Mac may have been infected and could now be part of a bot network controlled by the malware’s creator.
• So: If you think your Mac is infected with this Trojan horse, SecureMac has posted a free removal tool at http://macscan.securemac.com. If, on the other hand, you’re among the millions of Mac users who are not software thieves and don’t install pirated software, you have little to worry about.
If all this has you wondering whether you should be running anti-virus software on your Mac, I urge you to read, “Should Mac Users Run Antivirus Software,” an excellent article by security expert Rich Mogull that you’ll find here: http://db.tidbits.com/article/9511.
I’m sorry Peter, but much as I love your show , I believe your answer is both incorrect and misleading. Unfortunately, other sources including CNN and Fox News have carried similar misinformation. Let me try to set the record straight.
Flame on.
• First: The so-called virus that raised a ruckus in the news in late April isn’t a virus at all. Rather, it’s a Trojan horse known as OSX.Trojan.iServices.A (sometimes referred to as iBotNet). While this may be splitting hairs, a Trojan horse is not a virus. The Wikipedia definition of a Trojan horse is: A class of computer threats (malware) that appears to perform a desirable function but in fact performs undisclosed malicious functions that allow unauthorized access to the host machine. In the case of OSX.Trojan.iServices. A, the malicious content has only been found in bootleg copies of Apple’s iWork ’09 productivity suite and Adobe Photoshop CS4 found on BitTorrent trackers and other sites containing links to pirated software.
• Second: OSX.Trojan.iServices.A isn’t new. In fact, Intego, a popular vendor of security software products for Macs and PCs, first reported it on Jan.22. Why it took until late April to hit the mainstream media is anyone’s guess, but it’s nothing new to savvy Mac users who have been hearing about it for months.
• Third: Only a tiny number of Mac users were affected. If you were among them, and you provided the bogus iWork ’09 or Photoshop CS4 installer with your Admin password, your Mac may have been infected and could now be part of a bot network controlled by the malware’s creator.
• So: If you think your Mac is infected with this Trojan horse, SecureMac has posted a free removal tool at http://macscan.securemac.com. If, on the other hand, you’re among the millions of Mac users who are not software thieves and don’t install pirated software, you have little to worry about.
If all this has you wondering whether you should be running anti-virus software on your Mac, I urge you to read, “Should Mac Users Run Antivirus Software,” an excellent article by security expert Rich Mogull that you’ll find here: http://db.tidbits.com/article/9511.
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