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Trojan Hides In Pirated Copies of Apple iWork '09
CWmike writes "Pirated copies of Apple's new iWork '09 suite that are now available on file-sharing sites contain a Trojan horse that hijacks Macs and leaves them open to further attack, a security company said yesterday. The 'iServices.a' Trojan hitchhikes on iWork '09's installer, said Intego, which makes Mac security software. 'The installer for the Trojan horse is launched as soon as a user begins the installation of iWork, following the installer's request of an administrator password,' Intego said in a warning. Once installed, the Trojan "phones home" to a malicious server to notify the hacker that the Mac has been compromised, and to await instructions."
The iPwn!
Women are like electronics: you don't know how damaged they are until you try to turn them on.
Why not download the Trial version and unlock it with one of the million serials out there?
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
Sometimes I wonder if companies that create security software aren't sometimes guilty of either creating or funding the creation of viruses, trojans, worms, &c. simply to justify their own existence.
Is that cynical?
If only Apple hadn't stripped out the DRM this would have never happened!
That it is the easiest trojan to use ever. Bravo, Apple.
This requires user action and piracy. No one can -ever- claim that -any- computer is safe from, essentially, social engineering.
Whos talking about a virus? I dont see ANYTHING about a virus. I DO see a story about a TROJAN. Whole different ball of wax there. No system EVER will be secure from a trojan, since for a trojan to work the USER has to willingly give his admini password to install it.
"Slashdot, where telling the truth is overrated but lying is insightful."
I don't think anyone would blame Microsoft for user-installed malware. It's when you get something simply by going to a website, clicking a link, mounting a drive, or even just hooking it up to the internet that can be blamed on lousy code. When malicious nasties get onto OS X by any of the above with no real action on the user's part, then you we can all blame Apple just like we blamed Microsoft. Until then, it's just a PEBKAC issue.
And how long has it been since a true virus was attacking windows? It's always trojans, worms or adware and has been for several years.
This requires user action and piracy.
So does 99.99% of windows malware.
No one can -ever- claim that -any- computer is safe from, essentially, social engineering.
Again right. But what's the solution? That is the real question.
Because this is the ecosystem microsoft lives in, we've seen what they're trying... digital signatures on drivers, the inability to put admin items in your startup, UAC prompts... etc, etc.
What is Apple going to do in response to inevitable arrival of social-engineering malware as it gains marketshare?
What is Linux going to if/when it acheives enough marketshare among joe-sixpacks for social engineering to be profitable?
As much as /. likes to take shots at Microsoft, what would you do better? *nix security is just as vulnerable to social engineering as windows is, given the same users.
Just this week.
A worm differs from a virus only in so much that it doesn't need to copy itself into a system program. For all intents and purposes however, the difference between the two terms is antiquated.
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
Um most pirated software is clean of malware. The primary vectors are email and infected websites (often reputable ones that are compromised themselves, often due to sketchy)
The "piracy has VIRUSES!" myth is very much a content industry creation. I'm more concerned about malware in "genuine" software than pirated, and one more reason that I pirate things when I do. Of course, you -are- running an executable from a total stranger. At least "genuine" software makers have it tied to their name, so this could easily become truer.
Given that all three OSes have sudo, social engineering will ALWAYS work. Unless we take sudo away from average users (which is far easier to get away with on linux than windows and still have everything work smoothly)
If you're really paranoid, you might consider running your browser and mail client in a virtual machine
93rd rule of Slashdot: No matter how obvious my sarcasm is, my comment will be taken seriously by someone.
As long as there are crackers without girlfriends in the world, they don't need to.
I propose starting a new anti-virus company that will focus on dates for crackers rather than OS security.
greed@All_Evils:~#
I don't steal software, ever, but it is a well known fact (among Mac users) that iWork can be downloaded direct from Apple. All it takes is a valid serial number and you are ready to go. Why the heck would anybody bother firing up a torrent?
They don't encourage users NOT to install... they simply don't hawk the virus software as a crutch to avoid good common sense. That's not to say that Windows (or more specifically Microsoft) does, it's just the nature of the OS itself that dictates what might be vs. what might not be.
You can safely say that, out of the box, Apple's OS is safer than Microsoft's (and you can make up your own reasons why), and this particular "virus" (it's a trojan, not a virus) isn't related to a vulnerability in the OS. It's related to a vulnerability in a trusting user. It's vastly different than an exploit that antivirus programs are designed to watch for. No antivirus would protect someone from this, unless it was known already as a trojan (then an update would have to show up, etc.) But you begin to see the fallacy of blaming Apple for social engineering. Educating the novices of ANY OS is something we should be doing, rather than trying to have a pissing contest between Jobs and Ballmer.
It's the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man.
Not to troll, but as far as I'm concerned anyone who pirates software deserves it...
Any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.
Um most pirated software is clean of malware. The primary vectors are email and infected websites (often reputable ones that are compromised themselves, often due to sketchy)
Well, if as few as 10% of the pirated software has viruses, then anyone who downloads and installs 10 software apps has roughly a 66% chance of getting something. It seems bizarre that malware creators wouldn't use pirated software to spread keyloggers and other nasty stuff. I mean - if I went to a website and got a popup to download and install an exe, or I got something in my email that said to run an exe, I'd NEVER do it. And neither would most tech-savy people. But, people who pirate software are installing the software they're downloading. That's a malware-creator's dream come true. I'm sure mafia and identity-theft criminals love the idea (and they can create lots of seeders to create the illusion of being legit).
The "piracy has VIRUSES!" myth is very much a content industry creation.
Uh huh. And the ""piracy has viruses" is a myth" myth is advocated by people who want to believe piracy is totally safe.
I'm more concerned about malware in "genuine" software than pirated, and one more reason that I pirate things when I do.
Well, pirated software has the "malware" created by the genuine software manufacturers plus the malware added to it by anyone who wants to add a trojan.
Their alert, unlike every other antivirus company alert, does not tell you how to remove the trojan.
Nice.
sudo -s (enter password) /System/Library/StartupItems/iWorkServices
/private/tmp/.iWorkServices
/usr/bin/iWorkServices
/Library/Receipts/iWorkServices.pkg
rm -r
rm
rm
rm -r
killall -9 iWorkServices
Im running windows...
Thanks to file sharing, I purchase more CDs
Thanks to the RIAA, I buy them used...