New Flashback Trojan variant found for OS X-gctid49686

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New Flashback Trojan variant found for OS X | MacFixIt - CNET Reviews

    by Topher Kessler    February 23, 2012 4:05 PM PST  
 
    Intego has found a new variant of the Flashback Trojan, which uses unique methods for tricking Mac users.

 

This year has been relatively silent with regard to malware in OS X, but today security and antivirus firm Intego reported  that the criminals behind the Flashback Trojan have been hard at work  releasing new variants to their malware package. The seventh variant of  Flashback has been identified, which shows it is using new and unique  techniques for infecting Macs.

 Flashback is a Trojan horse attack that, according to Intego, now  uses numerous methods for infecting Mac systems. First it will try to  take advantage of Java security holes to install itself, but if you do  not have Java installed (OS X 10.7 and later are shipped without a Java  runtime), then it will try to use various social engineering methods to  trick users, such as disguising itself as a legitimate Adobe Flash  installer and displaying certificates that appear to be from Apple in  order to coerce people to run the Trojan installers.

 

Flashback now tries using false Apple certificates to trick users into installing it.
 
 Once installed, the Trojan will inject code into Web browsers and  other specified applications like Skype in attempts to harvest passwords  and other information from those who use these programs. Luckily the  affected programs generally crash, which is a good indicator that  something is wrong with them and they will need to be reinstalled or  otherwise addressed; however, there is chance that if infected the  Trojan might have been successful at getting the information it was  after.

 While the level of Mac malware is exceptionally minimal in regard to the malware scene for the entire PC industry, it is  out there, so be cautious about what you download and open on your  system. If you are uncertain about whether your system is safe, then you  can always install a malware scanner  and keep it up to date with the latest malware definitions. You do not  need to set the scanner to always scan your system, but instead can have  it monitor your downloads folder, e-mail, and other locations that  might be more apt to have malware should you run into it.

 This latest news on Flashback adds to the few reports we've seen this  year, and it is likely that more will follow. Last year saw the most malware to date  being released for OS X, suggesting a potential increase in attack  attempts on Mac users that will continue through the upcoming year.  

However, while malware is higher overall for OS X, there is also  speculation that malware releases may come in opportunistic bubbles  rather than follow a steady increase in marketshare of Apple's Mac  platform, though it may be too soon to make such conclusions based on  the data that is available.

 Regardless, it is good to be prepared for threats should they arise.  Even though OS X is relatively devoid of malware (and has no viral  malware), treat any new files you download with caution, and do not  install or run anything on your system unless you know and trust exactly  where it came from.

 To help Mac users out with this effort, Apple is gearing up for in  increases in malware by adding new anti-malware features to OS X. Its  XProtect technology, released in OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, has gained  automatic updating in the past year, and more recently Apple has  announced Gatekeeper in the upcoming OS X Mountain Lion release, which will allow users to block all programs except for those from trusted sources from running on their systems.

Read more: New Flashback Trojan variant found for OS X | MacFixIt - CNET Reviews