Sunday, May 17, 2009

Current List of Mac OS X Active Malware

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This evening I was busy over at the ClamXav forum. In response to a suggestion there, I provided a current list of Mac OS X active malware. I decided to cross-post the list here as well:

Below is a list of all the Mac OS X active malware I am aware of. I've been attempting to keep up to date on this subject since 2005. I have a blog where I share all my knowledge of Mac security:

http://mac-security.blogspot.com

As far as I am able to ascertain, the only active Mac OS X malware ClamAV is able to detect is Trojan.OSX.RSPlug.A (aka DNSChanger.A). In a previous thread I have asked for help trying to determine if any further Mac OS X malware are detected.

Note that there is only one official standard name for each of the 11 malware. This is what I use to name each family. However, anti-malware providers call them anything they choose. This is why I provide alternative names. There are four families of Trojans listed below with various strains/versions/variants designated by "A" through however many exist for the family. In the case of RSPlug I list A through G specifically because the PCTools site lists that many. Most other sites list only A through F.

If anyone knows of further names for these malware, or of any further ACTIVE malware (please not inert or proof-of-concept malware) please let me know at my blog.

The current list of active Mac OS X malware as of 2009-05-17:

I) Trojan.OSX.RSPlug family, aka DNSChanger or Jahlav.
01) Trojan.OSX.RSPlug.A
02) Trojan.OSX.RSPlug.B
03) Trojan.OSX.RSPlug.C
04) Trojan.OSX.RSPlug.D
05) Trojan.OSX.RSPlug.E
06) Trojan.OSX.RSPlug.F
07) Trojan.OSX.RSPlug.G

II) Trojan.OSX.Lamzev family, aka Malez.
08) Trojan.OSX.Lamzev.A

III) Trojan.OSX.PokerStealer family, aka Corpref.
09) Trojan.OSX.PokerStealer.A

IV) Trojan.OSX.iServices family.
10) Trojan.OSX.iServices.A
11) Trojan.OSX.iServices.B

Sources of these malware:

The RSPlug family are all offered by websites that tell you that you must install their file or program in order to access specific media they are offering. Originally these Trojans showed up on porn sites where you were told to download a video codec in order to view their videos. These days the websites could be telling you anything. The basic idea is to use 'Social Engineering' to fool you into installing their Trojan. The most recent of these Trojans can potentially zombie your computer and use it in a botnet.

Lamzev is a hacker tool used to create backdoor access into a computer. The only way to 'catch' it is if a hacker has physical access to your computer and hand-installs it. Note that there are plenty of other hacker tools around, but this is the only one listed as a Trojan because of the potential damage it can do to a victim computer.

PokerStealer originally called itself "PokerGame". You download it, install it and are infected. The original version put up a bogus warning message that a corrupt preference file had been detected and that your administrative password was required to repair it. It then sends your ID, password and IP address to crackers who can then access your computer via SSH and do whatever they like with it. Theoretically this Trojan can be named anything.

iServices showed up earlier this year in pirated programs, buried inside their installer. The original A and B variants were buried in pirated versions of iWorks 09 and Photoshop CS4. You install the pirated program and get infected. There are reports that the installers actually fail to install the listed program and only install the Trojan. In any case, iServices zombies your computer and makes it part of a botnet. This Trojan formed the first officially verified Mac botnet back in February. It apparently consists of thousands of computers. It has so far been used in a DDOS attack. Note that once a Mac is zombied, the 'bot wranger' or cracker-in-charge can do anything they like with the computer. This particular zombie botnet is so far is being used for money making ventures over the Internet.

If/when further Mac OS X active malware is discovered I'll list it in my blog.
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2 comments:

  1. On the vx heavens site you can download the macho man virus aka macharena. It is very easy to make a variant of that mach-o virus for mac os x and the sources are provided.

    I think that some threats derived from it are already in the wild.

    Thx for your blog.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Glad to be of service!

    Thanks for sharing. I'm going to check it out.

    Hackers have indicated to me that there's a lot more going on than what gets reported at 'the usual places', including apparently the 3rd party sources I use.

    ReplyDelete