Sophos warns vs new Trojan malware targeting Mac OS X

A new Trojan malware now stalks users of computers running Apple Inc.’s Mac OS X, using an old disguise that once fooled users of Microsoft’s Windows. Computer security firm Sophos said the Trojan (identified as OSX/Revir-B Trojan) is disguised as a portable document file (PDF), and exploits vulnerabilities in the Mac OS. “When we tested the malware inside our labs, we couldn’t manage to get it to execute as the author probably intended - however, strings embedded deep inside its code make it clear that it was written with malicious intent," Sophos said in a blog post. Sophos said the malware tries to drop a PDF embedded inside it onto the user’s hard drive. The Chinese language PDF file displayed is about a controversial topic, “Do the Diaoyu Islands belong to Japan?" The Diaoyu Islands are the subject of a long-running dispute between the two countries, with both claiming sovereignty. Once run, the malware attempts to install a backdoor Trojan horse (detected by Sophos as OSX/Imuler-A) which would give malicious hackers remote access to the Mac computer. “It’s quite possible that this is evidence that Mac malware authors are attempting something similar, moving on from the fake anti-virus alerts that blighted many Mac users earlier this year," Sophos said. — LBG, GMA News