Pirated Software with Trojan Hits Mac OSX

People looking to get a copy of iWorks '09 for free got a little more than they bargained when they recently downloaded pirated versions of the latest iWorks application for Mac. The pirated program also contained a trojan which gains administrator access when the software is installed on the system.

The trojan portion of the program installs as a start up service and is called" iWorks Services."
The program then allows the trojan's author to control the machine remotely, having full access to the system. The author is then free to steal what ever information he wants off of your machine, or use it to launch attacks on other computers on the Internet.

So far, on 20,000 Mac users have downloaded the infected software from sites that offer the pirated software. This is a small number but should server as a wake up call to people who want to skirt the system and use pirated software. Really, if you do not want to pay the money, then just go open source and use Linux!

Here is a prime example of why licensed, commercially available software has its place in the market. If you want to get a copy of a particular program, you should stay away from the stuff that shows up on pirate sites. If you use the copyrighted and licensed iWorks program from Apple, then you'll be safe. Just have to pay the cash like everyone.

In theory, the same sort of shenanigans can occur with open source code as well. A malicious developer could attempt to stick something in their program that acts as a trojan. If they do then it would probably be pretty short lived, since it would stick out like a sore thumb to anyone looking at the code. It would be a pretty pointless exercise on their part with nothing to gain, which another reason why the open source model works well in term of system security.

Say Goodbye to McAfee, FOREVER!

Since I work in the IT business, I get the following questions on an almost daily basis:

"What virus software would you recommend for my home computer?"

Now I know exactly how the weather guy feels when they get asked: "What's the weather going to be next Friday?" wherever they go. Or, "Is global warming for real?"

People naturally assume that since you work in a certain field, that you know everything there is to know about everything in that field. They do not think of specialization.

I am here to tell you that I am not an expert with Microsoft products. I do not know too much about Windows. I use their software just like any other user. Well, I use it a lot more than typical users, but I would not call myself an expert by any means.

I do notice that things like McAfee and other virus scanning software really dragging the Microsoft systems down. Then there are all of these malware and virus programs to deal with. I think it is a complete waste of time. Could there possibly be some conspiracy between Microsoft, virus companies, and those responsible for creating these little programs.

Who knows?

But when I get asked the IT "Question of the Day":

"What virus software would you recommend for my home computer?"

and when I think about all the time and energy that is spent on virus programs and their ilk, my answer to the question is:

"LINUX"


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Agent.BTZ Virus infecting Military Computers

Another virus is making headlines, and it is being passed around the old fashioned way with the modern day equivalent of floppy drives. I remember years ago there was a lot of hand wringing by "security experts" about floppy disks. Back then, viruses could pass from disk to machine quite readily. It looks like only Microsoft machines are being targeted. I have not heard anything about Linux being targeted by this virus.

Now these older infection methods are back, yet they have added a little twist. The Agent.btz virus has been around for a couple of months and gains entry onto your system through an infected USB thumb drive. After infection it replicates itself and starts looking for networked drives on your system and downloads a binary file from a website. What this binary does, nobody knows. Yet some say it will go active when January 20th rolls around, which happens to the day our President is sworn in. May make for an interesting inauguration.

The thumb drive have become the modern day floppy, and it was just a matter of time before the old methods of using floppies to pass viruses have now made a comeback to use USB drives.

I am really happy that I have switched to Linux. For now, there is now worrying about virus software updates, windows updates, etc. I just turn the machine on, and it is ready to go. I guess it is only a matter of time before Linux desktops gets targeted. Linux Servers have been hit with worms, etc. in years past, but that all seems to have died away.

At home, I do run a few server processes, like sshd, etc. I contemplated running Samba and setting up a file server that I would be able to map drives to my Windows box. But for now, I am keeping it simple.