The first reported malicious code to target Apple’s Mac OS X operating system, a potentially damaging Trojan Horse computer program, is serving as both a validation of the platform’s security and a warning that more may be coming. Announced by Mac security vendor Intego, the Trojan horse, dubbed MP3Concept or MP3Virus.Gen, exploits a weakness in Mac OS X where applications may appear to be other types of files, Intego reported.
There is nothing new here. When OS X first launched with support for both mata data and file extensions there was talk of malware getting in through the gap between both methods. There is still not 1 person who has been infected unknowingly with anything other than an obsession for MAC OS X.
doriangrey - I'm sure you would like to believe that MacOS is like all the others, but it isn't, not by a long shot. There is a world of difference in the security features built into OSX as compared to Windows, and I would suggest that you do a little searching (won't take much) and read up on what you're talking about before making a statement like "is like all the others". Here's something I bet you didn't know, and I hope it doesn't make you grind your teeth: A web site in Finland a few years ago offered a reward (it got up to close to $10,000) to anyone who could deface a web page hosted on a Mac. After several months and over 200,000 attempts, it still remain untouched. So if my Mac was like all the others then how is it that I can browse the web and click on anything I want without fear, open any email attachment that comes along, have no adware, no spyware, no popups, and I leave my system running and online 24/7 with nothing invading my system through buffer overflows and/or open ports? Have a nice day. :)
Given, MACs are 3% of the earths desktop. Why would someone write a hack for that? It aint popular. Hackers are intersted in that inwhich will affect the masses. MACs aint it! So that explains why no one has cracked it yet. MACs should and will vanish from the earth sooner or later.
There are a few flaws in your theory. The main flaw being that for quite a few years now the United States Army has been using Macintosh servers. Thus meaning there are a lot of hackers out there trying there best(and failing) to hack into those macintosh servers and none have managed so far. Have a great day!
OSX was NOT attacked by anything. This Trojan was nothing more than a proof-of-concept, and it was never introduced into anyone's computer without their knowledge. Furthermore, it contained no "malicious" code of any kind. It was simply a test to see if it could be done, and was created by a group of (let's call them) programmers who got the idea through their discussions in the newsgroups. Actually, this type of Trojan has been around for about 2 decades and is anything but new. The guy that created it wrote to several anti-virus software vendors and to Apple to inform them of what he had done, in the spirit of being a helpful kinda guy. Now, what *would* be newsworthy, is when MacOSX is brought down by simply clicking a web link, or if MacOSX got infected with a virus by just fetching one's mail (not even opening it), or if files start disappearing by simply listening to online music, or if a Mac starts sending thousands of spam emails just by hooking up to the net and letting it sit for a while. Now THAT would be news.
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Mac OS X Attacked by Trojan Horse
Posted by: Jay Lyman April 9, 2004 10:27 AMThe first reported malicious code to target Apple’s Mac OS X operating system, a potentially damaging Trojan Horse computer program, is serving as both a validation of the platform’s security and a warning that more may be coming. Announced by Mac security vendor Intego, the Trojan horse, dubbed MP3Concept or MP3Virus.Gen, exploits a weakness in Mac OS X where applications may appear to be other types of files, Intego reported.
MACs should and will vanish from the earth sooner or later.
Now, what *would* be newsworthy, is when MacOSX is brought down by simply clicking a web link, or if MacOSX got infected with a virus by just fetching one's mail (not even opening it), or if files start disappearing by simply listening to online music, or if a Mac starts sending thousands of spam emails just by hooking up to the net and letting it sit for a while. Now THAT would be news.