Hackers hitting Macs with virus: industry experts

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THE computer security industry buzzed with warnings that more than a half-million Macintosh computers may have been infected with a virus targeting Apple machines.
Flashback Trojan malware tailored to slip past "Mac" defenses is a variation on viruses typically aimed at personal computers (PCs) powered by Microsoft's Windows operating systems.
The infections, spotted "in the wild" by Finland-based computer security firm F-Secure and then quantified by Russian anti-virus program vendor Dr. Web, come as hackers increasingly take aim at Apple computers.
"All the stuff the bad guys have learned for doing attacks in the PC world is now starting to transition to the Mac world," McAfee Labs director of threat intelligence Dave Marcus told AFP.
"Mac has said for a long time that they are not vulnerable to PC malware, which is true; they are vulnerable to Mac malware."
Dr. Web determined that more than 600,000 Mac computers may be infected with Flashback, which is designed to let hackers steal potentially valuable information such as passwords or financial account numbers.
Hackers trick Mac users into downloading the virus by disguising it as an update to Adobe Flash video viewing software.
Apple has long boasted that Windows machines are more prone to hacking than Macs.
Computer security specialists contend that the reason for the disparity was that since most of the world's computers were powered by Windows, hackers focused on systems that promised the most prey.
As the popularity of Macs has soared, so has the allure of hacking Apple operating systems, according to Marcus.
"There has been a significant increase in Mac malware in the last several quarters, so what we've seen with the Flashback Trojan isn't particularly surprising," Marcus said.
"Cybercriminals will attack any operating system with valuable information, and as the popularity of Macs increase, so will attacks on the Mac platform."
Computer users, no matter their operating systems of choice, need to protect machines with tactics including up-to-date anti-virus programs and avoiding risky habits such as opening files or clicking links from unknown sources.


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计算机安全产业的嗡嗡半多万美元的Macintosh计算机可能已感染病毒瞄准苹果机的警告。
闪木马恶意软件，针对滑过去“陆委会”防御上通常采用微软的Windows操作系统的个人计算机（PC）针对病毒的变异。
感染，发现“野生”，芬兰的电脑安全公司F-Secure和俄罗斯反病毒程序供应商博士网络黑客越来越多地在苹果电脑的目的，量化。
“所有的坏人学到的东西做在PC世界的攻击，现在已经开始过渡到Mac世界”，迈克菲实验室主任威胁情报戴夫马库斯告诉法新社。
“Mac已经很长一段时间，他们是不会受到PC恶意软件，这是真正的说，他们是脆弱的Mac恶意软件。”
网络博士决定，超过60万台Mac电脑可能被感染闪回，其目的是让黑客窃取潜在的有价值的信息，如密码或金融帐户号码。
黑客伎俩Mac用户下载病毒伪装成Adobe Flash视频观看软件的更新。
苹果早已放言Windows机器，黑客比Mac更容易。
计算机安全专家抗衡，贫富悬殊的原因是因为世界上大多数电脑由Windows供电，黑客集中系统，承诺最猎物。
作为苹果电脑的普及已飙升，因此具有黑客的苹果操作系统的魅力，据马库斯。
，“马库斯说：”已经有显着增加，在过去几个季度中的Mac恶意软件，所以我们已经看到闪回木马是不是特别令人惊讶。
“网络犯罪分子将攻击任何有价值的信息操作系统，Mac的增加知名度，也将在Mac平台上的攻击。”
电脑用户，无论他们选择的操作系统，需要保护机器的战术，包括最新的防病毒程序，并避免危险的习惯，如打开文件，或者点击来源不明的链接。