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iWork Trojan may be turning Macs into zombies
Plague of the zombies.
By Dan Moren, Macworld.com | Macworld UK
Published: 18:09 GMT, 17 April 09
Mac users are threatened by something that has previously been the preserve of Windows machines. Researchers claim to have discovered the first Mac zombie botnet in existence and have published a paper in Virus Bulletin (subscription required).
The botnet stems from a Trojan horse embedded in a iWork '09 trial version that was making the rounds on file-sharing networks. The risk first came to light in January when security firm Intego warned of the potential threat hidden in the files.
Two researchers, Mario Ballano Barcena and Alfredo Pesoli, have now discovered two separate variants of the malware, each using distinct techniques to compromise users' machines. They also conclude that the author of the malware was not the same person using it to launch the denial-of-service (DoS) attacks on websites including, according to the Washington Post's Brian Krebs, a site called "dollarcardmarketing.com." The infected package has apparently been download several thousand times, though it also needs to be installed in order to do its dirty work.
It seems likely that this development will spawn a new era of argument over the relative security merits of Macs and PCs. But Trojan horses on OS X are nothing new; the lesson here is the same old saw about practicing safe computing - for example, don't download software from suspicious sources. As developer Pete Yandrell, one of the first to discover the Trojan's nefarious deeds, said, "If I'd done the smart thing, and got my copy straight from Apple, I wouldn't have had this problem."
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Add your commentComments
MacWarrior | Published: 18:33 GMT, 20 April 2009
Anyone who knowingly downloads pirated software deserves to be infected. A virus on a Mac has to have administrator permission to load. @ only $79.00, IWorks is cheap enough for anyone to afford. Apple’s productivity suite, is the easiest way to create great-looking documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. Writing and page layout are easy using Pages. Numbers gives you simple ways to make sense of your data. New cinematic animations, transitions, and effects in Keynote will keep your audience captivated.
John | Published: 03:41 GMT, 19 April 2009
In case anyone missed the part in the article where it said, "...person using it to launch the denial-of-service (DoS) attacks on Web sites, including according to the Washington Post's Brian Krebs, a site called "dollarcardmarketing.com." " So now, not only are software applications being recoded to release botnets, but they're also being picked up by other knuckle-heads to be used as a weapon. I happen to be the owner of www.DollarCardmarketing.com and had to endure that DDos attack. We have no idea how we got involved in this nonsense as we had nothing to do with the pirated software, nor do we even own Macs. I'd like to think we don't have any enemies and don't know if this was used against us from a malicious competitor, or simply lucky enough to be randomly picked as a "test site to see if it could be done". None the less, we certainly didn't deserve to be attacked in this manner. John Valente http://www.DollarCardMarketing.com
John Computer Tester | Published: 00:45 GMT, 18 April 2009
Now it will be relevant to people that Macs are not better than PCS in any way shape or form. They are just over priced computers and will have the same issue as any PC and in some cases even more.