Warnings after 600,000 Macs infected with virus

The computer security industry buzzed with warnings that over 600,000 Macintosh computers may have been infected with a virus targeting Apple machines.

Flashback Trojan malware tailored to slip past Mac defences is a variation on viruses typically aimed at PCs powered by Microsoft’s Windows operating systems.

The infections, spotted “in the wild” by Finland-based computer security firm F-Secure and then quantified by Russian anti-virus programme vendor Dr Web, come as hackers increasingly take aim at Apple computers.

“All the stuff the bad guys have learned for doing attacks in the PC world is now starting to transition to the Mac world,” said McAfee Labs director of threat intelligence Dave Marcus.

“Mac has said for a long time that they are not vulnerable to PC malware, which is true; they are vulnerable to Mac malware.”

Dr Web determined that over 600,000 Mac computers may be infected with Flashback, which is designed to let hackers steal potentially valuable information such as passwords or financial account numbers.

Hackers trick Mac users into downloading the virus by disguising it as an update to Adobe Flash video viewing software.

Computer security specialists contend the reason for the disparity was that, since most of the world’s computers were powered by Windows, hackers focused on systems that promised the most prey. As the popularity of Macs has soared, so has the allure of hacking Apple operating systems.

“There has been a significant increase in Mac malware in the last several quarters, so what we’ve seen with the Flashback Trojan isn’t particularly surprising,” said Mr Marcus.

“Cybercriminals will attack any operating system with valuable information, and as the popularity of Macs increase, so will attacks on the Mac platform.”

Users, no matter their operating system of choice, need to protect machines with tactics including up-to-date anti-virus programmes and avoiding risky habits such as opening files from unknown sources.