Tag Archives: Mac malware

Watch Out! First-Ever Word Macro Malware for Apple Mac OS Discovered in the Wild

After targeting Windows-based computers over the past few years, hackers are now shifting their interest to Macs as well.

The emergence of the first macro-based Word document attack against Apple’s macOS platform is the latest example to prove this.

The concept of Macros dates back to 1990s. You might be familiar with the message that reads: “Warning: This document contains macros.”

Macro is a

Newly Discovered Mac Malware with Ancient Code Spying on Biotech Firms

Security researchers have discovered a rare piece of Mac-based espionage malware that relies on outdated coding practices but has been used in some previous real-world attacks to spy on biomedical research center computers.

Dubbed Fruitfly, the malware has remained undetected for years on macOS systems despite using unsophisticated and “antiquated code.”

Infosec firm Malwarebytes discovered

First Mac OS X Ransomware Targets Apple Users

Mac users, even you are not left untouched!

The World’s first fully functional Ransomware targeting OS X operating system has been landed on Macs.

Ransomware – one of the fastest-growing cyber threats – encrypts the important documents and files on infected machines and then asks victims to pay ransoms in digital currencies so they can regain access to their data.

Though Ransomware

Writing Advanced OS X Malware an ‘Elegant’ Solution to Improving Detection

OS X security researcher Patrick Wardle is expected at Black Hat to demonstrate how to write advanced Mac malware, including Gatekeeper and Xprotect bypasses, in hopes of raising awareness to the current state of OS malware detection.

Don’t Let Your Mac Fall Asleep: It Might Dream Up A Rootkit

Just last month we talked about how the “Unicode of Death” crashes your iPhones and Apple Watches, how easily Apple Safari can be manipulated via URL-Spoofing and the Ex-NSA guy who pointed to Mac security flaws.

Now Pedro Vilaca, a security expert who is deep into Mac OS X and iOS security, found another not so great looking vulnerability. Take a look at what he wrote on his blog: “Well, Apple’s S3 suspend-resume implementation is so f*cked up that they will leave the flash protections unlocked after a suspend-resume cycle. !?#$&#%&!#%&!#.

And you ask, what the hell does this mean? It means that you can overwrite the contents of your BIOS from userland and rootkit EFI without any other trick other than a suspend-resume cycle, a kernel extension, flashrom, and root access.”

Wow. So basically it is possible to install a rootkit on a Mac without much of an effort. Just wait until the machine enters sleep mode for at least 30 seconds or more so the Flash locks are removed. Once gone the device is yours. With the Flash locks gone you can play around with the UEFI code and well … for example install a rootkit. The only way to protect yourself from it is to never let your Apple device go into sleep mode.

Luckily not all devices seem to be affected. Vilaca tested the issue against a MacBook Pro Retina, a MacBook Pro 8,2, and a MacBook Air, all running the latest EFI firmware available. All of them were vulnerable. There is a shimmer of hope though: The latest MacBooks might have been silently fixed by Apple, since the security expert was not able to replicate the vulnerability there.

The post Don’t Let Your Mac Fall Asleep: It Might Dream Up A Rootkit appeared first on Avira Blog.

Ex-NSA Guy Points to Mac Security Flaws

Whereas Apple develops its iOS with security a part of the process, with OS X development security seems to be more of an afterthought. ‘Bug bounty’ programs are one direction suggested for Apple, but until there is a change in the current approach, the vulnerabilities remain open to any would-be hackers.

At the recent RSA Conference in San Francisco, Wardle gave a presentation titled “Writing Bad@ss OS X Malware,” in which he challenges Apple’s OS X developers to change their way of thinking – especially considering that the majority of the malware getting into Macs (now measuring hundreds of thousands) is “amateur, even basic,” according to Wardle.

More advanced Mac attacks, such as the ‘Rootpipe’ backdoor, have been difficult for Apple to patch, and failed ‘fixes’ have been covered by thehackernews.com, computerworld.com, securityweek.com, forbes.com, and others in the first half of 2015.

AV-Test, a leading independent computer security testing firm, recently tested 10 different Mac OS X security software packages (you can read the full report here), writing that:

“The legend that Mac OS X is supposedly invincible is not borne out by the facts. In the aftermath of major attacks by Flashback, the police Trojan Browlock or Shellshock, the number of assaults on Mac OS X continues to increase.”

In AV-Test’s analysis, Avira Free Antivirus for Mac earned a 100% detection score against 160 new Mac-specific viruses and malware. If you’re taking chances with no security on your Mac, do yourself a favor and take care of it right now – FREE DOWNLOAD.

The post Ex-NSA Guy Points to Mac Security Flaws appeared first on Avira Blog.