Bad news for Mac users: You're at risk for an insidious malware that will connect your computer to a botnet.
Hackers have developed
a backdoor entry called "Mac.BackDoor.iWorm" that gains access to Macs
and uses Reddit to connect the hacked computer with a command server.
Once the computer is infected, the iWorm uses Reddit's search function
to hunt down posts made by the hackers. These posts (on a Minecraft
subreddit) provide server addresses, and the software uses the Reddit
posts as a guide to connect to the botnet.
This
gives them the option of using the infected computers for a variety of
bad deeds, like attacking a website via DDOS attack or spamming the shit
out of people.
It's not clear yet how they infect the Mac in the first place, but researchers for Doctor Web estimate that most of the infected Macs are in the United States.
There's
no evidence that any of the estimated 17,658 Macs infected are actively
getting used by the hackers, so that's good. But the attackers still
managed to gain access to a large number of computers, and they may
simply be quietly growing the network until it's large enough to execute
something big.
To
avoid infection, it's smart to keep your software updated (it's also
just smart to keep your software updated in general). MacExperience also recommends
that you set GateKeeper so it only runs digitally signed apps from the
App Store, and that you put a password on your computer and keep access
to Admin accounts at a minimum. All common sense stuff, but considering
people keep making their passwords "password," it's worth a reminder.
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