Mac OS X Malware


Does anyone here know of any malware which exists for Mac OS X? I have
been arguing with Mac fanatics about Mac security and they insist that
there has never been a (publicised) report of any malware attacks
involving Macs running OS X in the wild despite sharing links with
them concerning a botnet which had been shut down that infected a
number of Macs. I also discovered the existence of a program known as
"Opener", which seems to be capable of being utilised as part of a
botnet infection via a downloaded file containing Opener as a
"trojan". It seems to me that Opener could be installed by a user
without ever knowing it, if the downloaded file is an application
which contains an installer which is programmed to also install Opener
(in addition to the other files which the user desires). Perhaps
Opener could even utilise encryption to evade detection by anti-
malware software (even while running)? Ultimately, I am wondering if
anyone knows of any 'botnet kits available which will also run on the
Mac OS (as a client). I find it difficult to believe that no such
botnet kits exist.

-P

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Symantec releases "demo" OSX virus
    ... claims that Symantec 'released' this malware. ... than Mac OS and Mac OS X combined. ... IMPROVING the security of Mac OS X by digging for security ... Apple's May 2006 Security Update fixed a whopping 43 holes. ...
    (comp.sys.mac.advocacy)
  • Re: Does Mac Malware Benefit From Obscurity? No! Proved By Data.
    ... of times more malware than Mac is that the Mac is 'obscure.' ... Below I perform some calculations to prove this conjecture to be ... Windows, versus the current percent on Mac, and the number of malware ...
    (comp.sys.mac.system)
  • Re: Why the obscurity myth does not explain Mac OS X malware
    ... If Mac OS X is just as vulnerable to malware as Windows, one would expect a proportional number of malware, on a per user basis, for both operating systems. ... Second, client targets tend not to be static on the internet, which makes specific clients harder to find and penetrate by automated methods. ...
    (comp.sys.mac.advocacy)
  • Re: Mac Pro Price Trounces Dell
    ... research the specifics on the malware that I specifically mentioned, ... MB of graphics files in the public directories, ... higher ROI for the Macintosh Mac users still choose the PC. ... But yet he went and bought a Windows system for ...
    (comp.sys.mac.advocacy)
  • Re: OS X Virus myths
    ... I don't think that we will see much action on the malware ... obviously no part of the reason Mac OS does ... Most malware on Windows propagates via social engineering. ... effective propagation. ...
    (comp.sys.mac.advocacy)