The Flashback trojan has been all over the news lately, but it is not the only Mac malware threat out there at the moment. A few weeks ago, we published a technical analysis of OSX/Lamadai.A, the Mac OS X payload of a multi-platform attack exploiting the Java vulnerability CVE-2011-3544 to infect its victims. OSX/Lamadai.A has

The biggest Mac botnet ever encountered, the OSX/Flashback botnet, is being hit hard. On April 12th, Apple released a third Java update since the Flashback malicious code outbreak. This update includes a new tool called MRT (Malware Removal Tool) which allows Apple to quickly push malware removal code to their user base. The first mission

Earlier this month, researchers from AlienVault and Intego reported a new malware attack targeting Tibetan NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations). The attack consisted of luring the victim into visiting a malicious website, which then would drop a malicious payload on the target’s computer using Java vulnerability CVE-2011-3544 and execute it. The webserver would serve a platform-specific JAR

Introduction Mobile World Congress 2012 is almost upon us, and one of the most hotly-anticipated topics is the next generation of Microsoft’s smartphone operating system Windows Phone 8, which has been kept under wraps far more tightly than its PC counterpart, Windows 8. While Microsoft was an early adopter in the creation of smartphones with

Forensic software developer PassWare announced a new version of its eponymous software forensics kit on Tuesday. Already several news sources are writing about how the program can automatically obtain the login password from a locked or sleeping Mac simply by plugging in a USB flash drive containing their software and connecting it to another computer

Security companies in general and, unfortunately, anti-malware companies in particular, are often accused of ‘hyping’ threats because of a perceived self-interest. However, in the main, legitimate vendors and researchers like those at ESET typically try to resist overhyping or playing up threats where possible, in favor of more balanced discussion that can help customers take

…criminals are making use of the fact that Quicktime Player 7.6.6 allows movie files to trigger file downloads…the volume of reports picked up our ThreatSense.Net® telemetry suggests the likelihood of significant prevalence, though by no means an epidemic right now…

Apple Insider has reported that Apple has silently added rudimentary protection for a threat that they call HellRTS. Our own David Harley has blogged about this at http://macviruscom.wordpress.com/2010/06/18/apples-covert-anti-malware-ops/. At the same time that Apple tries to fool users into thinking that malware doesn’t run on Macs, Apple is very slowly beginning to add very basic

I like Macs. Not in an "OS X is God's own Operating System" sort of way, but I've owned/used many Macs, from SE/30s and IICX's to iMacs, eMacs and Macbooks. In fact, at least two of my books were written on the Powerbook which was my workhorse machine in my last couple of years at

A spyware application Intego calls OSX/OpinionSpy is being spread as part of the installation process for a number of screensavers and other apps.