21 February 2006

Second Mac Worm!

Second ever, both in one week. This one is currently mostly harmless, in that all it does is send out more copies, however it is potentially very harmful as others will hijack its code and easily spread more malicious versions in the future.


Name: OSX.Inqtana.A
OS: Mac OS X
Type: Worm
Transmission mode: Bluetooth (short-range wireless devices)
From: Anyone (may not say)
How to infect: Accept a Bluetooth connection (either manually or automatically) when computer restarted
Prevention: Update Mac OS X, buy/update virus protection software
Consequences: Sends more copies to other Bluetooth-enabled devices and computers
Removal: Unknown, presumably anti-virus software
More Info: Sophos press release, Sophos virus profile, CNN/Reuters

6 comments:

rabsteen said...

so much for the myth of virus free macs eh??

zandperl said...

Mine too. I guess that it hasn't been "profitable" before now because so few people use Macs. Additionally, it's a matter of user intelligence. The first adopters of any technology are always the ones who are able to use it the best, where "best" includes "least likely to get viruses thru stupidity." As more people use Macs, we get less of those good users and more of the bad.

Anonymous said...

Hey, thanks for the question the other day, sorry it took me a while to answer it, I have been busy lately! I hope that answer makes some sense!

-Matt

Anonymous said...

Humm... I posted this but it didn't show up...

Hey, thanks for the question the other day, sorry it took me a while to answer it, I have been busy lately! I hope that answer makes some sense!

-Matt

zandperl said...

Matt: that's because I manually approve every comment before it goes up, since I do get occasional spam comments. I post every human comment I get though. Feel free to delete one if you want. :)

Anonymous said...

Haha, oops, I should have noticed that "comments will be moderated" note. Oh well, its part of my "charm". heh :)