trojan

New OS X Trojan horse sends screenshots, files to remote servers

These days when people think of malware and OS X the first name that comes to mind is likely MacDefender or one of its variants, which were rogue utilities designed to trick users into giving up personal and financial information. As the Mac gains in popularity there will undoubtedly be more attempts like this, and recently a new Trojan horse attempt for OS X has surfaced that tries to steal users' personal information.

The malware was first seen in late July of this year, and has been identified by security firms F-Secure and Sophos as "Trojan dropper" and "backdoor" utilities that both work in tandem to install on the system.… Read more

Performance targeted in AVG Free 2012

The bottom line: AVG Free 2012's renewed focus on performance keeps scans zippy, but struggles with slowing down your boot time and too many false positives.

Review: The never-ending mantra chanted by security suite vendors sounds a lot like "faster scans, easier to use, better performance," and AVG has released a new version that it says accomplishes all three. Certainly, the scans are faster, it does install more quickly, and some tweaks to the interface have made it easier to view. Two new core security changes will make you safer, too.

Editors' note: Portions of this review … Read more

Q&A: MacFixIt Answers

MacFixIt Answers is a feature in which we answer questions e-mailed in by our readers. This week we had questions on how the iTunes Home Sharing feature works, different approaches for upgrading to OS X Lion, how to list open network ports in OS X, and identifying whether or not you installed the Adobe Flash Trojan. We continually answer e-mail questions, and though we present a few answers here, we welcome alternative approaches and views from readers and encourage you to post your suggestions in the comments.

Question: How the iTunes home-sharing feature works MacFixIt reader "Kski" asks: … Read more

Dog Wars app for Android is Trojanized

An older version of a controversial Android app called "Dog Wars" has been modified to include a Trojan horse that takes actions without the device owner knowing it, according to security firm Symantec.

The app sends a text message to everyone in the contact list that says, "I take pleasure in hurting small animals, just thought you should know that," and signs United States-based devices up for a text alert service operated by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), Irfan Asrar wrote in a post on the Symantec blog.

"We have no reason to believe that PETA had anything to do with this app, and that it is most likely the work of someone attempting to associate the app with PETA," he writes.

A PETA representative provided this statement when asked for comment: "We don't know who created this version of the app, but we think it is ingenious. When someone creates a game that glorifies animal abuse, you can bet that people will come up with clever, smart ways to take action against it." … Read more

Kaspersky 2012 offers solid but slow protection

The bottom line:

The new Kaspersky Internet Security for 2012 introduces a dual cloud-and-local security system bundled under an interface overhaul that's both easy to use and familiar. The suite's scans aren't the fastest, but it definitely will protect you.

Review: Kaspersky Internet Security continues to provide users with a high level of protection that includes security tools not offered by many competitors. The 2012 version won't change the face of personal computer security, although this particular package of security options and top-shelf performance has attracted enough devotees to make it a best-selling program, both in … Read more

Apple updates malware definitions for fake Flash Player trojan

If you monitor the virus definitions from antivirus developers like Sophos, McAfee, or Norton, you will see numerous new definitions for worms, trojans, viruses, and other malware being released daily. However, if you look at all of these, the vast majority of them are for Windows systems. On the rare occasion that one trickles through that targets Mac users, the whole community seems to turn upside down, and ring major warning bells that blow the situation a bit out of proportion.

Everyone is responsible for this, but given the rarity of malware on Mac systems it is news to the … Read more

Mac Trojan Horse poses as Adobe Flash Installer

The latest attempt from digital wrongdoers to infect your Mac has been spotted taking on the look and feel of Adobe's Flash Installer.

Despite your feelings on whether you like Flash on your Mac, this Trojan poses a fairly serious threat to those unsuspecting users who may think they are simply updating Flash Player.

F-Secure has named the Trojan Bash/QHost.WB and have provided some insight as to how it works.

Once installed, the Trojan adds entries to the hosts file to hijack users visiting various Google sites (e.g., Google.com.tw, Google.com.tl, et cetera) … Read more

Viruses: Destroying your systems for 25 years

LAS VEGAS--The hacker conference DefCon kicked off this morning with the rare public sighting of a now-archaic piece of technology: the 5 1/4-inch floppy disk. Mikko Hypponen, the chief technical officer for the Finnish security company F-Secure, waved the disk above his head to start off his history of PC viruses, and said, "This is Brain."

Hypponen was talking about a guest of honor housed on the disk: the original computer virus. Hypponen found the disk last year in a lockbox in F-Secure's headquarters in Helsinki, and he dove in, cracked the virus code, and found … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1522: Is there ice cream for WiFi Day? (Podcast)

It's 8-02-11 (in U.S. style date parlance, we know), and therefore it's WiFi Day ... we don't know what that means, but Molly's planning to get some ice cream out of it! Plus, Android malware that can record your phone calls and free WiFi in London, thanks to Virgin Media. Plus, the New Yorker is a winner on the iPad and the MacBook Air is a winner with our show hosts.

Android Trojan records your phone conversations

A new Android Trojan has been discovered that records your phone conversations, according to IT service provider CA Technologies.

According to CA security researcher Dinesh Venkatesan, the malware only runs after users unwittingly install it onto their Android-based devices. To coax users into doing so, the Trojan mimics a standard installation screen for legitimate applications. If users click "install," a configuration file is added to the handset with "key information about the remote server and the parameters," suggesting that the calls can be accessed over the Web by the malware's creator.

Once a user places … Read more