Skip to main content

New viruses aimed at Apple

Computer experts have discovered two new viruses that target Apple computers, and they say more could be found in the future.That's the advice being passed to owners of Apple computers by computer experts.

They are sharing those words of wisdom because two viruses written to target Apple computers were discovered on the Internet last month and a major security hole in OS X, the latest operating system for Apple computers, was found.

While viruses and security weaknesses are almost everyday occurrences for owners of Windows-based computers, they are virtually unheard of in the world of Apple.

But that world is changing.

Computer security experts say more viruses and security flaws for Apple computers will be found in the near future. It's the price of popularity, they explained.

''You will start to see more exploits, but only because Apple has garnered a lot of attention in the past year,'' said Vincent Weafer, a senior director at Symantec. Symantec makes anti-virus and security software for computers.

''But it's certainly not the dam bursting,'' Weafer said, adding that Apple computers will be getting a lot more attention from virus writers and security experts.

TWO REASONS

There are two reasons Apple computers are in the spotlight, he said:

  • Apple recently switched to Intel chips for its computer processors. Intel chips primarily had been used in Windows machines. Though the Intel-based Apple computers have been on the market less than two months, researchers want to see if the switch will create Windows-like problems in Apple machines. Virus writers are hoping the chip creates more security holes that they can exploit.
  • Apple computers are becoming more popular, thanks to the success of Apple's iPod portable music player. Exact sales figures of Apple computers in the past year were not released by the company, but analysts said the company had stronger than expected sales of Macintosh computers in December.

The problems in Apple computers started in midFebruary, when two viruses were discovered.

One virus, named OSX.Leap.A, infects computers through Apple's iChat instant-messaging program. Once on a computer, it replicates and sends itself to all other computer users listed as contacts in iChat.

BLUETOOTH HIT

The other virus, OSX.Ingtana.A, is a worm that spreads itself through Bluetooth connections to Apple computers. Bluetooth is wireless technology that lets devices communicate at distances of about 30 feet.

Neither virus did much damage.

Despite the security threats, that doesn't mean that Apple computers suddenly have as many viruses and security weaknesses as Windows machines, Weafer said.

''There are 200 known worms for Apple computers, as opposed to a few hundred thousand for Windows computers,'' he said. "From a home user point of view, I would not panic or worry."

"But it's a good opportunity to go back and look at your computer practices and see if there's something that can be changed to make the computer a little safer.''

He said that Apple owners should check that their virus detection software and operating system are updated.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Play against Xbox360 gamer on PC in Vista

Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates on Tuesday announced a cross-platform gaming service that integrates games played on cell phones, Xbox 360 consoles and the upcoming Windows Vista operating system. The "Live Anywhere" service will be available as part of Windows Vista, Microsoft's next-generation PC operating system. The consumer version is scheduled for release early next year. "It means that you have one online community," Gates said in a news conference. "This platform can really unleash developers to do amazing new things." The system would extend the company's existing Xbox Live service for the Xbox 360 console into millions of Internet-enabled PCs and cellular phones. No pricing information on the new service was announced. In recent months, Microsoft has been pushing a number of online services that it hopes will boost revenue as markets for its traditional software become increasingly saturated. The company expects to make money off s...
9 comments
Read more

Welcome to Google Checkout, that will be $3.14

From ZDNet The first time I looked up the domain " GDrive.com " it appeared that someone other than Google had it registered. A trip down memory lane takes us to my very first article that describes how I determined GDrive.com is in fact owned by Google, despite what it looks like on the surface. Well, by the same logic I have found that a brand new set of domains appearing to be registered to someone else were actually registered by Google on May 25th. The domains googlecheckout.net / org / info (.com is owned by someone else at the moment) have all been registered to a company called DNStination, Inc. Don't be fooled, the registrar is MarkMonitor — a company that prides itself on the protection of your corporate identity. There is no way they would let just anybody register a domain with "Google" in it — especially since Google is one of their clients. Then who is this DNStination, Inc. then? Googling the address of this "company" tell...
Post a Comment
Read more

Hackers biting Apple

Hackers are increasingly focusing on Apple's Mac OS X, and the number of newly discovered vulnerabilities has surged. Such a switch could mean big implications for Apple's user base, which has traditionally not had to concern itself too much over security. It's been an impressively quiet year so far on the PC virus and worm front, and hackers seem to be focusing their attention elsewhere. One such area is Apple's Mac OS X. Once mostly ignored by malware developers, there appears to be a growing interest in this "alternative" OS. Details Have you noticed the dearth of serious PC virus and worm threats out there lately? Well, it isn't a figment of your imagination -- according to vnunet.com, viruses are no longer the top security threat . While serious attacks are still likely to emerge, the bottom has apparently fallen out of the PC antivirus market -- just as Microsoft begins a big push into the security market. One cause of this drop-off is solidif...
6 comments
Read more