Back in 2008, the Microsoft windows world was slammed with a computer worm that ended up being known around the world as CONFICKER. It used some flaws in the windows operating system, and exploited poorly constructed administrator passwords to takeover millions of computers.
Many MAC users shrugged their shoulders and barely looked up, continuing to believe that their precious little gems, given to them by the great Mac GOD Jobs were invulnerable, because the great Mac God Jobs had promised them that in his perfection, all Mac computers were invulnerable.
No computer, no Operating System is invulnerable. Any determined programmer who wants to spend enough time on it, can find a way to exploit any computer or operating system, especially if its owner is foolish enough to connect to the internet.
In the past few days, one of the largest viral infestations of computers ever known has been found exclusively targeted to Mac computers and the Mac OS X operating system.
Particularly tragic about this infestation is that many Mac owners have bought so heavily into the myth that Mac computers are impervious to virus attacks, that they have done absolutely nothing to protect their machines.
Mac users who used their computers to access their bank accounts, or purchase online using their credit cards, now need to worry if any of that information has been compromised.
So far, an estimated 600,000 Mac computers are infested with this Trojan, over half of them in the United States. The only unaffected continent appears to be Africa, however its more likely that because of cost and availability, the few infected Macs on that continent just haven’t registered on the meters as yet.
Originally, this malware masqueraded as an update to Adobe Flash. The more current version is distributed much like more common Windows targeted malware – as a drive-by, where the user has to do nothing to be infected except visit an already infected website.
Apple has known of this threat for over a year, and done nothing to interfere with the perception that its computers are invulnerable to such interference. Not only is this a disservice to the owners of said computers, it continued to add dollars to Apples bottom line through purchases, without giving users an opportunity to make informed choices.
Most every anti-virus and anti-malware software program in existence has a version that works on Mac OS X operating systems. I’m sure that their sales will look better over the next few weeks as panicked owners try to close the barn doors.
As with Microsoft Windows, often the blame is not with Microsoft or with Apple, but with a third party software that was compromised. In the case of Apple, this particular monster started with Java. Many vendors make programs that run on Microsoft and on Mac operating systems.
I have been telling my Apple using friends for years that their computers were just as vulnerable as my Microsoft Windows computer. The only difference is that any virus or malware writer would rather devote their time to writing code for the masses instead of for a computer that only a relatively few users had at home. Now that Mac computers are on the rise at home, the virus writers are much more interested.
Users of any electronic device that touches the internet need to take every precaution to secure their privacy, their banking information and their peace of mind.