New Version of Flashback Trojan Targets Mac Users

wiredmikey writes with this extract from Security Week: "On Friday, researchers from security firm Intego reported that a new variant of Flashback is targeting passwords and as a byproduct of infection, Flashback is crashing several notable applications. Flashback was first discovered by Intego in September of 2011. It targets Java vulnerabilities on OS X, two of them to be exact, in order to infect the system. Should Flashback find that Java is fully updated, it will attempt to social engineer the malware's installation, by presenting an applet with a self-signed certificate. The certificate claims to be signed by Apple, but is clearly marked as invalid. However, users are known to skip such warnings, thus allowing the malware to be installed. ... The newest variant will render programs such as Safari and Skype unstable, causing them to crash. Interestingly enough, normally these are stable programs, so if they start suddenly crashing might be a sign of larger issues."

Comments

Re:"not immune" != "just as bad as a PC"

[philip.paradis]

So if I go out in the middle of nowhere in the desert and build a house, it is kind of stupid for me to claim that my house is safer just because nobody tried to rob it in 15 years.

You might want to pick a better analogy. Many criminals have specifically targeted houses built in remote/rural locations, because of a perceived lessening of the odds that neighbors will notice their activities (there aren't any neighbors, or they're half a mile down a dirt road), coupled with greatly increased police response times.

The understood risk with such plans is the somewhat increased likelihood that the residents will own firearms and know how to use them, but rural homes getting assaulted, the inhabitants being raped and murdered, and the homes getting burned to the ground afterward aren't exactly unheard of.

Side note: Yes, there's a dirt road in front of my residence. There's also a rifle ten feet away from me.