OS X Trojan in the Wild – The Time For Smugness is Over
It’s being reported this week that there is a Trojan Horse in the wild that’s targeted at Mac OS X (both Tiger and Leopard). This is quite a nasty beast which basically gives the attacker total control of your computer. This gives them access to all your files and allows them to snoop on everything you do, and hence collect sensitive data like banking details and credit card numbers.
If you run Mac OS X this should concern you. However, there is no need to panic and loose sight of the realities of the situation. This is not a virus or a worm, it’s a Trojan.
What’s the difference? Viruses and Worms spread from machine to machine, often without any need for any interaction on the user’s part, Trojans on the other hand have to be installed by the user. They work by pretending to be a legitimate program which an un-suspecting user then installs. They get their name because in many ways they are the digital equivalent of the wooden horse of Troy. (more…)
