Apple’s Mac Will Be Increasingly Attacked in Coming Days

Computer security firm Sophos, which conducted a survey of 355 computer users, revealed that 93% of the respondents believed that attacks from malware would be more frequent on Apple's Macintosh in future, with such attacks having already increased from 79% in 2006.

According to Sophos, the new malware was identified for Mac and then predicting similarly for future.

Senior Technology Consultant, Graham Cluley, Sophos, said that although criminal gangs initially tried to make ill-gotten money through malware on Mac OS X, the fact remained that there is only a small number of trojans and viruses for Apple's Mac in comparison to Windows computers. This implies that the virus problem on Mac will never be as large as that for Windows, as reported by Govtech on February 14, 2008.

During November last, Sophos reported what it believes to be the first Mac malware designed for financial gain. This malware is a Trojan program called OSX/RSPlug-A, which facilitates users to watch porn video films. But actually, it alters DNS server requests and redirects surfers to Websites that they did not intend to visit.

According to Sophos' security researchers, with surging sales of Apple and wide adoption of Mac OS X, malware authors would make every attempt to exploit opportunities to penetrate Apple's hardware and software. They also believe that as Mac OS becomes more popular, the software would also be greatly targeted.

Also, use of Website redirection is a typical practice employed by cyber criminals, who want to send surfers to malicious Websites designed to distribute malware or perform phishing. Leaving those malware that are specifically designed for a particular target, most cyber criminals are aiming to applications and platforms popularly used for financial gains.

However, Apple ensures that vulnerabilities are periodically patched just like Microsoft and other software developers do. It is also that malware authors, in time, exploit these security holes.

Besides, the current preference for Web-based programs makes operating system in use rather irrelevant in many situations. When someone is tricked to furnish his personal information in a phishing scheme, it is user's fault more than anyone else.

Related article: Apple Patches QuickTime 13 Month Old Flaw

» SPAMfighter News - 2/20/2008