More Mac Viruses?

Threats from malwares have been around for some time and it is already common to find new variants each day. It usually targets Windows Operating System (OS) but the tide is changing. The once thought very safe OS is getting more attacks from so called malwares.

The Operating System that caught the eye of attackers is Apple's Mac OS that is officially sold with Mac computers. Originally, Mac OS remained safe from malware threats as Windows was far more popular than Mac that time. But as many users turned to Mac, it is now also targeted by attacks usually by trojans. According to Sophos a security software vendor, the first Mac OS virus was detected on  February 2006. It was named OSX/Leap-A and propagated through ichat instant messaging system in sending itself to the victim's contacts. This virus caught the shock of Mac users and the notion of Mac as totally virus free OS is changed forever.

Since this discover, more and more viruses were found targeting Mac OS. Usually embedded from pirated software like the one found on iWorks 09 or the Photoshop CS4 which are all downloadable via torrents. A more recent attack however involves a worm that infects users through accessing a pornographic website. The malicious website asks the users to download a certain ActiveX component to view the videos but instead downloads a trojan dubbed as OSX/Jahlavc. This virus is not just for Mac but can also infect Windows PC as well. With more and more attacks for Mac, it is now clear that users must protect themselves as the threat is real. Antivirus and security vendors had already released versions for Mac.