Mac spyware infiltrates Softpedia, MacUpdate and VersionTracker

You guys will LOVE this one!


By Windows Club | June 2nd, 2010

Intego, a leading security software provider for Mac, has discovered a spyware application that is installed by a number of freely distributed Mac applications and screen savers found on a variety of websites.

This spyware, OSX/OpinionSpy, performs a number of malicious actions, from scanning files to recording user activity, as well as sending information about this activity to remote servers and opening a backdoor on infected Macs.

OSX/OpinionSpy is installed by a number of applications and screen savers that are distributed on sites such as MacUpdate, VersionTracker and Softpedia. The spyware itself is not contained in these applications, but is downloaded during the installation process. This shows the need for an up-to-date anti-malware software with a real-time scanner that can detect this malware when it is downloaded by the original application’s installer.

This application that purports to collect information for marketing reasons does much more, going as far as scanning all the files on an infected Mac. Users have no way of knowing exactly what data is collected and sent to remote servers; such data may include user names, passwords, credit card numbers and more. The risk of this data being collected and used without users’ permission makes this spyware particularly dangerous to users’ privacy.

The fact that this application collects data in this manner, and that it opens a backdoor, makes it a very serious security threat for Mac computers, feels Intego.

SOURCE

... No sorry I should not laugh .... how much do they pay for a Mac Pro Desktop ....

They pay WAY too much and most of it is upper mid-level grade hardware at that.

I could build a PC with top-grade hardware and still put money back in my pocket afterward.

You guys are really enjoying this aren't you?

I've always wanted to try a mac OS. How much is just the OS. It would have to be pretty cheap for me to pull the trigger on it.

To be honest with you Yodap, I would love to try MAC OS, the problem is that it's tied strictly to their hardware configurations.

If Steve Jobs wasn't such an arrogant sphincter, and allow users to just buy the software, I would have bought the Mac OS ages ago.

Yeah I figured it was something like that. That explains a lot of the attitude from Mac users. (Mines better than yours). Quite a bit more expensive too!

My sister in law is in a computer graphics type of job doing layouts for an ad company and they use Macs. She doesn't own one but she is the first Mac user that told me that they are not impervious to virus and attacks about 6-7 years ago.

I understand the marketing factor in not wanting to spend to much time and energy in creating attacks on them.

Anyway this vulnerability seems particularly nasty coming from somewhat trusted sources.

I don't really find viruses delightful, regardless of the platform. Loss of data is no less of a pain to experience on a Mac than it is on a Windows or Linux machine.

Mac OS, or OS X, is not priced to the heavens like Windows is. The most recent version, Snow Leopard, or 10.6, retails for $29. The reason they can sell it this cheap is because it's tied into their custom hardware.

Mac OS is a lot more stable an OS than Windows is. This is not because it's better coded, but because whereas Windows runs on platforms scrambled from parts produced by thousands of OEMs, OS X runs on specific hardware, and only on that hardware. Therefore it is possible to make it quite stable, because when you design the OS, you already know precisely what hardware its users will have.

If Steve Jobs opened OS X for the Windows crowd to install on their PCs at will, that would be the end of OS X's stability as we know it; it would be just as susceptible to crashes and driver problems as Windows is. Furthermore, OS X is not Apple's financial flagship the way Windows is Microsoft's - they sell their hardware, which is where their money comes from. They'd have to price it a lot, lot higher if they could not rely on consumers who wanted to run OS X to buy the hardware for it from them as well.

Has nothing to do with Jobs' arrogance. When you have, what, 5 percent of the market share, you hang on to that by doing what you do best. No one is denying their hardware is overpriced. In my opinion, so are Ferraris. I can get from my home to the grocery store just fine with my Nissan, too. Others want to splurge on a brand name and logo, so let them.

Hey Core, obviously you have never driven a Ferrari. Believe me...if you ever drive one, you will take back what you just said. It is a thrill to drive one.

Go ahead, run leopard on your PC ...

http://www.pcworld.com/article/13903...un_on_pcs.html

http://dailyapps.net/2007/12/hack-at...just-one-step/