Mac users warned of web-based malware threats

Mac users should be on their guard against websites hosting malicious code designed to infect their systems. The advice follows the discovery of a new version of the OSX/RSPlug Trojan horse that is being distributed via a legitimate-looking website offering HDTV software.

Sophos has produced a video, demonstrating how the Mac malware has been distributed on a malicious website:

Sophos experts have determined that the RSPlug-F Trojan horse changes DNS Settings on Apple Mac computers, meaning users may find they are taken to bogus websites which may attempt to steal personal information, display revenue-generating adverts, or install further malware.

Sophos notes that the criminal gang behind this malware attack is targeting Windows computers as well as Mac OS X.

Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos commented:

Windows users shouldn’t be feeling smug about this attack against Mac users. If you visit the website from a Windows computer, it will serve up a malicious Windows executable from the Zlob family of malware rather than the RSPlug-F Mac OS X Trojan horse. By targeting both platforms with their malicious website, the hackers can kill two birds with one stone. Once a piece of malware like this is in place on your computer, it can do whatever the hacker wants it to do. Mac users are gambling with the security of their data if they believe they are somehow magically immune from threats that Windows users have lived with everyday for years.