It used to be that when one was using a Mac, there was absolutely no fear of being invaded by viruses and other malware. Indeed, this was one of the things that Mac users were most proud of. Aside from being cool, Mac products were basically impenetrable in this respect.
Well, those days are gone as early in this year, someone was able to create malware AND dupe people into downloading it into their Macs. I am sure that you heard or read about this – the news was splashed all over countless web sites. Just how many people have been affected? The Apple Blog has the details:
According to Intego’s numbers, more than 20,000 people have downloaded the affected file, a number which also says something about Apple’s ability (or desire?) to curb piracy of its proprietary software. Instructions on how to rid your computer of the virus in case you are among that unlucky 20,000 can be found here, but they can’t take away your shame.
This was only the beginning though – here’s more:
This week, another round of infections has appeared, this time targeting a different, but similar group of pirates. The victims are users who downloaded a pirated copy of Adobe’s popular photo editing program, Photoshop CS4. Again, the people responsible for finding and broadcasting the existence of the trojan are Intego. This one is aptly dubbed “OSX.Trojan.iServices.B”, and actually comes from the serial generator that packages with the Photoshop installer, and not the installer itself. The CS4 trojan presents the same risks as the iWork ‘09 version. Intego reports 5,000 downloads to date.
They just wouldn’t learn, would they? I am sorry but I can’t help but chuckle. No one would have this problem if only they didn’t try to download the ILLEGAL copy of iWork. I am not going to say anything more.