The OSX.RSPlug.A Trojan Horse

[engine]

As you may have read, a new piece of OS X malware has been discovered. Intego has named this malware the OSX.RSPlug.A Trojan Horse. Note that this malware is not a virus—it can’t self-propagate from one machine to another. It is, however, definitely malicious, and it’s packaged in a well-designed trojan horse wrapper.

The OSX.RSPlug.A Trojan Horse [macworld.com]

[weeks]

I don't watch porn, but I do sometimes enjoy the silly videos and they would be a perfect target. But, I don't think (would I?) I would enter my password on a download that casually. But, I know people who I work with (and depend on) who might.

I'm passing this on. Thanks.

[bouncybunny]

It's a somewhat overblown threat. Probably because of the novelty of being the first genuine 'in the wild' OS X Malware.

But according to Symantec (who are far more trustworthy than Intego, who have been crying wolf far too many times now), this is a very low level threat and distribution. Moreover, it requires the user to bypass OS X security warnings and to type in the computer admin password when asked "are you sure that you want to run this program?".

[symantec.com...]

But it does make one wonder if it is time to actually start installing a Mac virus checker at last. What a pain, I wonder which one hogs the least system resources?

[weeks]

I've started working "globally" with some vendors and attachments are going back and forth, so I'm exposed to who knows what.

I downloaded the Intego product today after doing some reading. What you do load the software, scan all of the files and then do a quick check on only what's new. Therefore, they claim it runs easily in the background all of the time and doesn't impact performance.

The interface is not the most consumer-friendly. I felt I had to read the PDF instructions to make certain I had set up correctly.

So, while I think you're right that this Trogan is overblown as a threat, it's a word to the wise. I've got a new OS and new computer and everything is running fine. I want to keep it that way for a couple of years. It's time to get serious about these security threats.

(If you work on Macs most of the time and don't get exposed to wonderful world of Windows, then you might be spoiled. You do NOT want to deal with that.)

[timster]

One long-overdue step I plan to take with my new machine is to set up non-administrator accounts for everyday use, and only log into the Administrator account when necessary.

And never surfing with administrator rights of course.

[weeks]

Apple confirmed this to the Wall Street Journal this afternoon. (Made the "most popular" article list. Hmm.)