Mac users warned of porn malware attacks

[sajiv]

Mac users warned of porn malware attacks

Security experts have discovered two new virus attacks targeting Mac users who surf porn sites. OSX/Tored-A - an updated version of the Mac OS Tored worm - and a Trojan called OSX/Jahlav-C have been found on popular pornographic websites.

Users surfing these sites are asked to download a "missing Video ActiveX Object" but are sent a virus instead.

Until now Mac users didn't need the anti-virus software.

Graham Cluley, a security expert with anti-virus firm Sophos, that the small number of Mac viruses had made some users complacent.

"There is a lot less malware on Mac than for Windows, so Mac users sometimes feel invincible," The BBC quoted him as saying.

"Apple have marketed their system on the line of ''you won't suffer spyware like you would on Windows'' and that has reinforced people's attitudes.

"And one thing we do know is that you are less likely to be running anti-virus software on a Mac than on a PC," he added.

Sophos revealed that the OSX/Jahlav-C runs a script that "uses http to communicate with a remote website and download code supplied by the attacker".

Christopher Phin, deputy editor of Mac Format magazine that Mac users needed to be more aware of potential threats.

"The Apple community is guilty of peddling the line that they are removed from security issues," he said.