Newly Discovered Mac OS X Malware Spoofs Apps By Using Standard File Extensions

[м¢ℓσνιη]

A new OS X malware uses standard extensions such as .pdf and .doc to disguise malicious files as basic, harmless subjects. Discovered by F-Secure, the spoof technique uses a special Unicode character found in file names that gives an app the appearance of a standard document file, and although the threat level is quite low at this point, any malware and outbreak should be treated with a dose of respect and vigilance.

OS X has long since been regarded as a safe haven, free from the malware and Trojan attacks that have plagued the Windows operating system over the years. However, Apple’s claim on its website that Macs weren’t susceptible to such problems had to be hastily removed in light of last year’s Flashback Trojan outbreak, and incidentally enough, F-Secure was at the heart of the clean-up job back then.

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[F. Malware]

That last paragrapgh makes me laugh, "free from the malware and Trojan attacks that have plagued the Windows operating system over the years". Complete bulllshit, I could infect OSX just as easy as Windows, or *nix. It's all about the level of the threat, the target user, and the predator. Yes most of the idiots that attempt to infect others these days don't know how to infect OSX like they do Windows, it doesn't mean it's anywhere close to "free from the attacks". That's just pure stupidity. No OS is safe from an attack, the user is the main defense, not the OS or it's applications. As for the spoof, I've seen a similar method used before, not on OSX but all that means is that something as common as .exe spoofing has been converted to OSX. No big deal, good post though. I enjoy reading things like this, even if they do make me laugh