Apple Security Ping!
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Posted on 12/07/2014 8:46:24 PM PST by Swordmaker
The latest monthly report from internet security specialist Doctor Web shows that whilst Windows and Android users have no cause for complacency, November saw substantial numbers of malicious programs aimed at Mac OS X and Linux platforms.
Trojans remain the most popular form of attack making up 8.7 percent of all malware detected. Trojan.InstallCore.12, which installs different adware, toolbars and browser extensions, ranks first. BackDoor.Andromeda.404, which downloads other malicious programs into an infected system when commanded to do so by intruders, ranks second.
In November BackDoor.Andromeda.404 was distributed in large quantities by email thanks to a mass spam campaign. It accounted for 2.4 percent of the malware detected by Doctor Web. The malware top 10 includes a number of other programs that seek to steal confidential information.
Several new examples of OS X malware have been added to Doctor Web's database. These include Mac.BackDoor.Ventir.2 a backdoor that can execute commands from a remote server, log key strokes and relay information to criminals. Particularly sneaky is Mac.BackDoor.WireLurker.1 which waits for the moment when an iOS device is connected to an infected Mac and then uploads its files onto the device. It even comes in two versions, one intended for jailbroken devices, while the other is for unaltered iOS devices. It takes advantage of the "enterprise provisioning" feature that enables companies to bypass the AppStore and install applications onto its employees’ devices.
Linux systems have been targeted by Linux.BackDoor.Fgt.1 which scans random IP addresses on the internet and launches a brute force attack in an attempt to establish a Telnet connection with their nodes. If successful, it commands the attacked host to download a special script. The malware’s command and control server stores versions for various Linux distros and versions allowing it to infect not only internet-connected servers and PCs running Linux, but also other devices, such as routers.
Android doesn't escape the onslaught, with a large number of malicious programs being detected. Many of these are banking trojans aimed at stealing money from accounts accessed on compromised devices. For example Android.BankBot.33.origin is aimed at Russian internet banking users. It employs SMS commands to covertly transfer money to the intruders' account and hide SMS replies from the bank, so that the user won't notice unauthorised transactions. In addition it can load a bogus web page in the browser to lure users into submitting their online credentials.
For more information about the latest virus activity and a free online scanner for malicious files and links you can visit the Doctor Web site.
If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me.
Of course all operating systems are targets. That's hardly news.
Linux and Mac OS X and iOS have been "targets" as long as they've been around, but RARELY SUCCESSFULLY ATTACKED, which is the point. Windows has historically been a softer target, but it has become nearly as impervious to attack as its more historically secure brethren.
The problem is, the most vulnerable part of a computer system is the USER -- and until USERS get better at not being fools, ALL computers will be vulnerable.
Because these days, it's NOT about the particular operating system. It's about the user. That's why most malware intrusions these days are based on Trojans, not true viruses.
I wish these idiots like Doctor Web would do something useful for a change. *sigh*
Mac fanboys say they’re not susceptible to virus attacks.
Geez. Don’t you guys ever get tired of trolling? No Mac fanboys say that any more (at least, not in the last 10 years). Just you guys, trolling. You’re tiresome in the extreme; can you please ADD something to the conversation for a change?
Asking a Russian to handle your computer security is like asking a Nigerian to handle your bank account.
Just a joke, son. Just a joke.
Ah, I must have missed your "j/k".
“Mac fanboys say they’re not susceptible to virus attacks.”
****************************************************************************************************
Just as Moths are drawn to the light for reasons they don’t understand, so Apple Haters are irresistibly attracted to threads related to Apple products to mindlessly vent. They can not help themselves overcome this powerful compulsion drawing them in.
All popular consumer operating systems are vulnerable to attack -- there is no such thing as invulnerability.Think anybody would even read it?Some systems are harder to attack successfully than others, and these days, Windows, OS X, and Linux are all capable of robust security, but none are flawless.
The weakest component of any computer system is the USER. The vulnerability of the USER completely swamps and dwarfs the vulnerabilities in any modern operating system.
Arguing about security of different operating systems is silly. Focus instead on educating USERS how to avoid stupid mistakes when THEY are attacked.
Because when the USER is the vulnerability, NO operating system can defend itself against its owner.
This is very serious. There must be at least a half a dozen Linux boxes out there connected to the internet with a telnet daemon running.
Telnet service has been disabled by default since, what, 2000?
Doctor Web is living in the 1990s. What a fraud.
ping...
A computer virus or worm is a self-replicating, self-transmitting, self-installing, self-running application that can invade a computer without participation by the user or the intent of the user. There have been exactly SEVEN computer virus candidates for Apple Mac OS X in the last twelve years. Every single one of those virus candidates has failed for the same reason. . . they failed for lack of a via led vector to spread. All of them. Ergo, Spirochete, as of the almost sixteen years that OS X has been in the wild, it has been shown to be essentially completely resistant to computer viruses and worms.
That does NOT mean there is no malware out there for OS X. There are now 58 known Trojan Horse application variants for OS X in eight specific families. A Trojan is merely an application, a program, that does something different than what the user who installs it expects it to do, usually malignant. The only computer that is NOT susceptible to a trojan is one that cannot have programs added to it. However, Mac OS X'S Operating System will automatically recognize all known families of OS X Trojans and their variants regardless how they're hidden in files, and warn users if they attempt to download, install, or run one of them. For a user to install a Trojan on a Mac requires truly industrial strength stupidity in a person also knows the Administrators user name and password to over ride the warnings and install it anyway.
Compare those seven wanna-be worms and viruses and 58 Trojans to the over 3.5 million viruses, worms, and Trojans, not to mention ad-ware and other malware that still infests the Windows universe. . . and tell me if there is some justification to the claims.
That many. WHOW!
I think is doing a pretty good job. . . But it is STILL possible to be really stupid and install a Trojan. . . but one would have to work REALLY hard to be that stupid on a Mac. It's easier to be that stupid on a Windows platform.
Evgeny Kaspersky [2011] |
ROFLMAO. No comment necessary.
There is at least one Windoze box running a telnet daemon (alongside Great Plains, and for the occasional convenience of yours truly — albeit not on the well-known port; has yet to be hacked).
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