Mac OS X Gets Its First Trojan Horse

CUPERTINO, Calif. – Apple Computer Inc. says it may be too soon to tell whether Mac users could be targeted in the first malicious Trojan horse program to hit the 3-year-old OS X operating system.

The program is embedded inside an MP3 music file, according to Intego, a maker of security and privacy software for Apple.

Paris-based Intego said that the program it received doesn't cause any destruction when activated but warned that the code could be easily modified to cause damage, such as to delete files. The company said the program, which opens a secret door for hackers to exploit at a later time, isn’t circulating on the Internet.

"We take this first Trojan very seriously," Intego CEO Laurent Marteau said. "This is very easy to modify and create a different version of the same problem."

With a mercurial rise in digital music, driven by its popular iTunes music store and iPod portable players, virus writers may be focusing on music files to spread mayhem.

Double-clicking on the attached MP3 file launches the iTunes music program and simultaneously spawns the Trojan program in the background, Marteau said, adding that it does not appear to be destructive except under computer certain settings.

With a 5 percent share of the personal computer market, the Mac is not the most attractive target to virus writers. Only 24 of the 88,000 malicious programs blocked by Network Associates Inc.'s McAfee antivirus software were written for Mac operating systems. Most are more than 10 years old, and none ever got very far.

With that low risk, few Mac users run antivirus software.

Apple's operating system, Mac OS X, was released in early 2001, while Apple's iTunes music service was introduced in late 2003.

Copyright © 2024 Adnet Media. All Rights Reserved. XBIZ is a trademark of Adnet Media.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.

More News

CAM4 Debuts Weekly 'Skyy Knox's CAM Crawl' Livestream

CAM4 is launching "Skyy Knox’s CAM Crawl," a new livestream running every Sunday at 3 p.m. PDT.

Texas Judge Pauses AG Ken Paxton's Aylo Lawsuit Until SCOTUS Decision

A Texas district judge granted a request Wednesday to pause proceedings in the lawsuit filed by Attorney General Ken Paxton against Aylo over its implementation of Texas’ controversial age verification requirements for Pornhub, pending the outcome of the Free Speech Coalition-led lawsuit against Paxton, which will be heard by the Supreme Court during the next term.

Author of UN Report Recommending Worldwide Criminalization of Sex Work, Porn to Speak at NCOSE Summit

Jordanian activist Reem Alsalem, a special rapporteur on violence against women and girls at the United Nations Human Rights Council who recently issued a controversial report recommending that governments abolish all forms of sex work, including porn, will speak at anti-porn lobby NCOSE’s 2024 summit in August.

Spicey AI Voice Chat Platform Launches

Spicey AI, a platform that uses artificial intelligence to create interactive voice messages from chatbots based on adult performers, has launched.

Utherverse to Host 8th Annual VirtualCon in September

Virtual reality and metaverse technology company Utherverse will hold the eighth edition of its annual virtual conference, VirtualCon, from Sept. 26-28.

Pornhub Shuts Down Access in Nebraska Over Age Verification

Aylo began blocking access to Pornhub in Nebraska on Monday, in anticipation of the state’s new age verification law — one of many such bills promoted by religious conservatives around the country — which is scheduled to go into effect Thursday.

FeelMe AI Launches 3 New Subscription Tiers

FeelMe AI has launched three new subscription levels, allowing users to connect compatible Kiiroo sex toys to their videos for interactive solo play.

CamSoda Launches AI Girlfriend Builder

CamSoda has debuted a personalized "AI girlfriend" feature, which allows users to create their very own virtual companion at no charge, including free NSFW role-play and chat.

Free Speech Organization Comes Out in Support of Wisconsin Professor Who Posted on OnlyFans

After a University of Wisconsin-La Crosse faculty tribunal recommended stripping veteran professor of communications Joe Gow of tenure last week due to Gow having unremorsefully created and appeared in adult content, a major free speech organization has come out in his support.

MojoHost Unveils Public Cloud Service MojoCompute

MojoHost has launched MojoCompute, a new cloud service, as the central component of its MojoCloud product offerings.

Show More