AfterDawn: News

Over 500,000 Macs infected by Trojan, are part of botnet

Doctor Web, the Russian anti-virus company has concluded this week that over 500,000 Mac computers are infected with the BackDoor.Flashback trojan and are now part of a botnet.

Most of the Mac OS X devices infected are in Canada and the U.S and should refute the claim of Apple fans that Macs cannot be hit by malware.



The vendor says that the systems are infected with BackDoor.Flashback.39 "after a user is redirected to a bogus site from a compromised resource or via a traffic distribution system." JavaScript code will then be run with the exploit. Some of the sites that will infect the computers are godofwar3.rr.nu, ironmanvideo.rr.nu, killaoftime.rr.nu, gangstasparadise.rr.nu, mystreamvideo.rr.nu, bestustreamtv.rr.nu, ustreambesttv.rr.nu, ustreamtvonline.rr.nu, ustream-tv.rr.nu and ustream.rr.nu.

Those are just a few of the sites, and Doctor Web says there can be thousands of compromised web-pages.

The spread of the Trojan began in February, and Apple only just closed the vulnerabilities this week.

For a more technical look, check here: Dr Web news

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 5 Apr 2012 20:37

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• 27 comments

• flyingpen

  This news is like Christmas to me!
  

  Carpe Noctem

  5.4.2012 20:49 #1

• GryphB

  Originally posted by flyingpen: This news is like Christmas to me! lol same here.

  5.4.2012 20:53 #2

• SomeBozo

  HO HO HO! Finally I might be able to stop arguing with people that mac do or don't get infected with viruses!
  

  5.4.2012 23:58 #3

• JST1946

  My Grandson told me he bought a Macbook and it couldn't get infected. I sent him an e-mail and the link to this article. I haven't got a reply back from him yet.

  6.4.2012 00:16 #4

• aldan

  cmon you guys,we all know macs dont get viruses....hard to keep a straight face here.
  

  6.4.2012 00:38 #5

• Picklesey (unverified)

  Originally posted by JST1946: My Grandson told me he bought a Macbook and it couldn't get infected. I sent him an e-mail and the link to this article. I haven't got a reply back from him yet. You sir are the best grandfather ever

  6.4.2012 06:32 #6

• djkorn

  people who say they don't get viruses on a Mac is like saying i took a hooker home and didn't catch some incurable disease. There is a god, he has heard all of our prayers, Apple has finally been infected, pop off the champagne and blow we gotta celebrate.
  

  6.4.2012 11:49 #7

• LordRuss

  Who on the PC side of the fence hasn't been touting this for years? Oh the enamored arguments I would get into with college professor elitists who would look down their noses at me when I worked in engineering as the IT Goon & tell them repeatedly, " could happen".
  
  This kinda makes me want to jam a party whistle in my ass & try for a rendition of 'Yankee Doodle' & charge up & down their hallways for old times sake.
  

  http://onlyinrussellsworld.blogspot.com

  6.4.2012 14:06 #8

• BTFan

  So much for the Mac vs PC ad about PC having to go through surgeries for a virus...lol

  6.4.2012 15:05 #9

• jerred121

  1/2 million? Isn't that mac's entire market share?
  

  PSP-modded, ps2 fat-modded w/fliptop and swap magic, PS3-YLoD, DS Lite w/ Acekard 2i, Xbox 360 - JTAGed with no dvd-rom
  

  6.4.2012 16:21 #10

• ps355528

  proprietary closed source software.. serves the greedy thieving s***s right.. taking OpenBSD and charging people for it. *sigh* and people are stupid enough to pay for it....
  
  people on these forums can tell you how many times I have made crapples "security" look pre-school when they have lost passwords or found one in a dumpster :) .. basic unix sys-admin stuff can get around it easily.. security through obfustication and secrecy isn't secure.. especially when their core os is built on old and stolen free open source base... We KNOW how to hack the mac, just haven't bothered that often because quite honestly unix isn't a challenge... when you have sheeple users programmed like windoze users to "accept" the mitherware "licence" every time..
  

  
  
  ARR! Them pesky Navy! Get out of my sea!
  irc://irc.villageirc.net/afterdawn http://www.pirateparty.org.uk/

  6.4.2012 16:53 #11

• MckinneR

  Ok maybe I am the only lone voice here, but how and why is this good news. regardless if you are a PC user or Mac user, I do not see the upside to this. even though we know PC's have many issues and Mac's are less likely to have them is this really cause for "Christmas"
  

  6.4.2012 18:14 #12

• ThePastor

  Because it proves the point we've been making for years...
  Mac's are not LESS LIKELY... they are AS LIKELY to be infected when an attempt at infection occurs.
  Basically, it knocks those Apple users who profess moral superiority off of their high horse.
  
  As we knew it would.
  

  "But the bigger point here is that UMG has effectively admitted this takedown was never about copyright. They demanded YouTube censor Megaupload and justify that by saying they have a contract which allows it so its fine. Its painfully clear what they would do with a law like SOPA that gives them much more power"

  6.4.2012 18:29 #13

• CNDLG

  Originally posted by MckinneR: Ok maybe I am the only lone voice here, but how and why is this good news. regardless if you are a PC user or Mac user, I do not see the upside to this. even though we know PC's have many issues and Mac's are less likely to have them is this really cause for "Christmas" I'll agree with you Sir! This article (to use someone else's example) Is like the STD infested hooker laughing at the lady from Beverly Hills that finally caught something nasty 'downstairs'. Plus it gives a chance for people to wine about Linux adoption rates or windows issues.
  
  Anyone with a sensible retort is welcome, but I find people's use of alternative words like 'crapple' or 'windoze' just proves your immaturity.
  
  For the record, I own both PC and Apple laptops and will concede there are genuine plusses and minuses about both!
  

  6.4.2012 19:28 #14

• ps355528

  come back when you grow up.. until then (like when you have been quoted by Richard Stallman for example) you live in sheeple consume without thinking world.. have a nice day forking out a fortune for new unnecessary hardware and software to greedy uncaring exploiters every year.. Baaaaaa !! ;)
  
  crapple and microsux.. not a new idea or invention between them... ever.
  

  
  
  ARR! Them pesky Navy! Get out of my sea!
  irc://irc.villageirc.net/afterdawn http://www.pirateparty.org.uk/

  6.4.2012 20:08 #15

• CNDLG

  Ha ha ha.
  

  6.4.2012 22:21 #16

• squewheet

  I will tell you this. I am a mac user and I never doubted that macs could get viruses. It just took someone with enough brains to make a virus to work on a mac. I just tell you that since I switched from a pc to a mac 4 years ago I have never been happier with my computer. PCs are just to much trouble and hassle for me.
  
  Them finding this one virus is not going to make me switch back. And also I have read on another article about this same thing. That all you have to do is go to where the virus is on you mac and then just drag it to you trash can. So its easy to delete, which viruses on a pc aren't so easily to delete.
  

  7.4.2012 00:58 #17

• xboxdvl2

  Originally posted by squewheet:
  
  Them finding this one virus is not going to make me switch back. And also I have read on another article about this same thing. That all you have to do is go to where the virus is on you mac and then just drag it to you trash can. So its easy to delete, which viruses on a pc aren't so easily to delete. most basic pc viruses can be deleted by deleting the file/s that is infected.the only problem is when its a system file thats infected or when you cant find the virus.(correct me if im wrong as i know very little about mac software) if a virus is on a mac and spread to varies files wouldnt you have to delete all the infected files to get rid of the virus.
  

  R.I.P. mr 1990 ford falcon.got myself a 1993 toyota corolla seems to run good.computers still going good.

  7.4.2012 03:53 #18

• Mr_Bill06

  Some people are dumb if they think Mac OS is impenetrable, of course Mac OS can get viruses. It was just not worth the time making them as you would get a better results making malware for Windows. Apple has for some reason picked up steam with there overpriced products over the years and is still going strong in even a market we have now, which is why over time more and more malware/viruses will be released. After all it's a system made by humans so there will always be ways to create malware.
  

  7.4.2012 04:44 #19

• LordRuss

  Originally posted by squewheet: I will tell you this. I am a mac user and I never doubted that macs could get viruses. It just took someone with enough brains to make a virus to work on a mac. I just tell you that since I switched from a pc to a mac 4 years ago I have never been happier with my computer. PCs are just to much trouble and hassle for me.
  
  Them finding this one virus is not going to make me switch back. And also I have read on another article about this same thing. That all you have to do is go to where the virus is on you mac and then just drag it to you trash can. So its easy to delete, which viruses on a pc aren't so easily to delete. We're not asking that you change back to (although why did you seem to change in the 1st place? Rhetorical, not that interested... Given the tone we all have a pretty good idea anyway) & having any brains to make a virus for a Mac is ludicrous at best. "Wanting" to make a virus, would be a more clear indicator as to the thought processes going into the existence of this one.
  
  All the pissing & moaning with regards to immaturity & lack of someone's ability to be creative with regard to ruin a corporations name is basically proportional to Freud's deduction to the size of a man's penis & those of you whining know it (you know who you are).
  
  I would almost bet 6" of my manhood (& I don't fold it for nobody) that there's been several virus' careening through Macs throughout history. It's just that programmers have jumped all over them & claimed them as bugs in programming to get rid of them. It just so happens this 'one' got away from them & tore them a new one.
  
  Is it the sole reason Apple sucks? Absolutely not. They chow the mastodon peter for a legion of reason just like everybody else.
  

  http://onlyinrussellsworld.blogspot.com

  7.4.2012 13:26 #20

• SapphicBeats (unverified)

  I'm a little disturbed to see people so celebratory about Macs being infected.
  
  Oh sure, you've got a little more ammo in the idiotic Mac vs. PC arguments now, because those are SO important.
  
  But what this means is more vulnerability in the world of computers and less security of people's information. I can't for the life of me see this as a positive, no matter how many arguments I win.

  9.4.2012 08:57 #21

• SomeBozo

  Originally posted by SapphicBeats: I'm a little disturbed to see people so celebratory about Macs being infected.
  
  Oh sure, you've got a little more ammo in the idiotic Mac vs. PC arguments now, because those are SO important.
  
  But what this means is more vulnerability in the world of computers and less security of people's information. I can't for the life of me see this as a positive, no matter how many arguments I win. For me it isn't a battle of PC's VS. macs, for me it is great to see those who use macs need to wake up now and stop saying "Macs never get infected, that is why they are so much better than PC's."
  

  9.4.2012 11:52 #22

• BE32

  Originally posted by SomeBozo: Originally posted by SapphicBeats: I'm a little disturbed to see people so celebratory about Macs being infected.
  
  Oh sure, you've got a little more ammo in the idiotic Mac vs. PC arguments now, because those are SO important.
  
  But what this means is more vulnerability in the world of computers and less security of people's information. I can't for the life of me see this as a positive, no matter how many arguments I win. For me it isn't a battle of PC's VS. macs, for me it is great to see those who use macs need to wake up now and stop saying "Macs never get infected, that is why they are so much better than PC's." Oh, the users of mac claim superiority over pc. That is why we celebrate this. It is the arrogance.
  

  Just do it.

  9.4.2012 13:03 #23

• bloke2000

  You really are a sad bunch.

  9.4.2012 17:24 #24

• 8686

  I don't hate macs. It's the fanboys and girls that go around touting that they love their macs and have no idea why. It really is a materialistic thing. A status symbol really. Mac and ugz boots.
  

  Gigabyte 890FXA-UD5
  AMD Phenom II X6 1090T 3.2GHz
  Sapphire Radeon HD 5770
  G.SKILL Ripjaws 8GB DDR3 1333, Corsair 750TX PSU
  10 TB Wes Dig. 64G Corsair SSD

  13.4.2012 10:09 #25

• djkorn

  In lieu of the argument of security, principal 4 of the security "protocol" as it were states that there is no such thing as absolute security. The problem here is that with more technology, we are growing it on existing platforms, and thus not learning everything about the vulnerabilities of the system. So, someone with enough smarts, a javascript of C++ book and some time can essentially create something to infect millions of machines.
  
  A virus is just that: a ton of commands geared towards the destruction and malicious intent of the users that it will infect. Macs are just as vulnerable as PCs but on another scale because the platform is different. Ive used both, and back in the early days of Macs they used to get tons.
  

  13.4.2012 10:19 #26

• getanacct

  Even though I use a PC, I feel sorry for the Mac fans that have discovered that their product can be infected just as much as any old PC (and I keep mine up to date, don't go on naughty sites, etc.)
  

  13.4.2012 21:51 #27