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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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Hackers Get 43 Cents for Every Hijacked Mac

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(Newser) – Mac users, beware: the Russians are after you. A notorious network of spammers in the country pays hackers 43 cents for every Mac they infect with fake software, an investigator says. At a security conference in Switzerland, the researcher laid out a specific scheme to get Mac users to install malware in the guise of a video player. The Russian spammers still mostly go after Windows, but the Mac threat is a disturbing new trend, notes ComputerWorld.

"The growing evidence of financially-motivated criminals looking at Apple Macs as well as Windows as a market for their activities, is not good news," blogs Graham Cluley at Sophos. "Especially as so many Mac users currently have no anti-malware protection in place at all."

A customer looks at a MacBook Pro.
A customer looks at a MacBook Pro.   (Getty Images)
A MacBook Pro.
A MacBook Pro.   (Getty Images)
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24 comments
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BeatBlaster
Sep 26, 09 2:10 PM CDT
Mac OS X = It's the perfect platform to exploit because their users are actively told they have nothing to fear. Reply
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+19
IN RESPONSE:
Rembrandt_Q_Einstein
Sep 26, 09 3:34 PM CDT
Even Snow Loepard now comes with anti-malware software. It's rudimentary but it points to the fact that the days of "invulnerable Macs" is coming to a close. See article here: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2009/08/snow_leopards_anti-malware_fea.html
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+4
IN RESPONSE:
2-bits
Sep 26, 09 5:02 PM CDT
No one actually bothers to hack PC's these days. I mean, that a lie, they do, but the VAST MAJORITY just try to get stupid end users to run their nasty program with administrator privileges. So much easier, even a complete idiot could do it.The only solution is to educate the users, not make them feel complacent.
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+2
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2-bits
Sep 26, 09 5:03 PM CDT
Case in point: a lot of these bogus things like ANTIVIRUS 2009, which ironically is a virus itself.
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+1
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2-bits
Sep 26, 09 6:09 PM CDT
That said: Mac Users, please don't get sucked in by the anti-malware software bullshit. It will not save you.
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+3

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