The second attack, from a virus called “OSX/Inqtana,” spreads via a known vulnerability in the way OSX handles Bluetooth wireless communications. “OSX/Inqtana” also is considered a minor threat.
Once a machine is infected with “Leap-A,” the worm copies itself into iChat Buddy lists and tries to communicate with users on the iChat network.
According to an official report from Symantec, the worm travels in a file called “latestpics.tgz.” Only OS X 10.4 are vulnerable and users with updates security patches should not be affected, Kevin Hogan, Symantec security response manager, said.
“The important piece of advice for any iChat users running OS X 10.4 is not to accept file transfers, even if they come from someone on a buddy list,” Hogan said.
Despite the worm’s minimal impact, security firms are taking note of what may be an increased threat to OS, which rarely finds malicious programs written for its system. A far greater number are written for Windows.
“[This] should act as a helpful reminder that malware can be written for any computer,” Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos, said.