NOW READ THIS
("Security Advisory")
Submitted by: Bill Hickey
NCVA List Master
NRT-0381 Cyber Criminals Begin Targeting Mac Users:
According to a report by IT security and control firm Sophos, organized criminal gangs,
for the first time, targeted Mac users last year with the intention of stealing money.
The report said that in 2007, financially motivated hackers extended their efforts
beyond Windows and for the first time targeted Mac users. Sophos has published its
Security Threat Report 2008 examining the threat landscape over the previous twelve
months, and predicting emerging cybercrime trends for this year. The company is
warning computer users of all operating systems not to be complacent about security.
Sophos experts not that malware for Macs has been seen before, but until recently,
organized criminal gangs have not felt the need to target Mac users when there are so
many more poorly protected Windows PCs available. However, late 2007 saw Mac malware
not just being written by researchers demonstrating vulnerabilities or showing off to
their peers, but by financially-motivated hackers who have recognized there is a viable
and profitable market in infecting Macs alongside Windows PCs. An example, they said,
were many versions of the malicious OSX/RSPlug Trojan horse, first seen in November
2007, which were planted on websites designed to infect surfing Apple Mac computers
for the purposes of phishing and identity theft. Sophos reports they are now discovering
6,000 infected webpages every day - one every 14 seconds. 83% of these webpages actually
belong to innocent companies and individuals, unaware that their sites have been hacked.
(TradeArabia News Service 24JAN08)