Appletell

In what is perhaps the coolest thing I have ever seen, Troika has created a “virus” for Mac, though its status as a virus is debatable. It lives on a USB key, and you have to have physical access to the computer to install it. The virus was created in an attempt to get back to the tme when viruses were just amusing little programs run to make the user chuckle. Nowadays, viruses are used for malicious intent, but back in the advent of the personal computer, “viruses [were] born out of the wit of early computer adopters, viruses whose sole purpose was to surprise and amuse.”

Troika says that they “chose to do it for mac as the platform is still a virgin territory.” If this is what Mac viruses will look like, I will download and install every suspicious looking thing that comes my way. The “virus” causes the menu bar to crack in half and fall, along with all desktop icons, to the bottom of the screen. Then, by turning the computer around, the icons and menu bar halves respond just as they would if they were really in a box.

The only problem? You can’t actually get it. If anyone can figure out how to get this, please comment. I want it really badly. Now, to see it in action, look after the break.

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Mac users have been free of virus’ for about 31 years now, but 93% expect that Macs will have more malware and virus attacks. Sophos, a computer security company, conducted a survey with about 350 computer users and they believed that Apple’s Macintosh computers will be targeted more frequently in the future. 

Last November, this computer security company reported a virus/malware that they claim to be “the first financially motivated malware for Macintoshes.” This Trojan program acts a a codec to enable users to view videos, but actually changes your DNS serves to direct users to sites that they haven’t navigated to. On the Windows platform, this technique is generally used to send users to malicious sites.

The company that conducted this survey is a computer security company, so there is no doubt that they are happy to know they have business in the future. I was skeptical reading this report, coming from this company, but the question seemed rather valid.

“The first financially motivated malware for Macintoshes has been discovered. Do you think in the future Macs will be targeted more often?” ~ Sophos

Can Apple keep up and kill away all the up and coming virus’?

Via [InformationWeek]

F-Secure picked up on the fake 1.1.3 firmware prep that has been circulating on the third party iPhone apps download sites. The fake application was a trojan that when installed did nothing but when uninstalled removed quite a few third party applications. The app, ironically, was created by an 11 year old changing XML files. F-Secure warns that next time it could be something more targeted.

“The trojan installation package contains false application installation information that causes legitimate third party applications to be removed if the trojan is uninstalled from the iPhone,” F-Secure reports. “Web sites hosting the malicious package were taken offline soon after the discovery of the low-risk threat.”

We recommend not to jailbreak your iPhone at all. iPhone firmware 1.1.3 will be out soon, as will the SDK, meaning that you can have those third party apps on your iPhone, fully Apple sanctioned.

Read [F-Secure]