28 February 2011, 10:38

Trojan targets Mac OS X

Experts at Sophos have received evidence about a new trojan that targets Mac OS X users. An analysis has shown that BlackHole RAT is a variant of the darkComet malware for Windows. Euphemistically called a Remote Administration Tool (RAT), this type of malware gives attackers access to numerous functions on remote computers, usually on Windows PCs.

For example, the currently unfinished beta version for Mac OS X contains a phishing routine designed to trick users into revealing their system's admin password. It also already allows attackers to download files from the internet and deposit them on the desktop, to shut down or restart the victim's computer, to execute arbitrary shell commands and to block the user's screen with a custom window. The window contains text in which the as yet unknown developers announce "more functions".

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