Graham Cluley of the Sophos security firm has written about a hidden change in Mac OS X 10.6.4 that is not mentioned in its release notes. Specifically, Apple included an update to the malware protection built into Mac OS X to protect against a backdoor Trojan the Cupertino-based Mac-maker identifies as “HellRTS”.
Sophos has been tracking the same trojan since April as OSX/Pinhead-B. It is distributed by malicious sources as the iPhoto application. The malware can provide a attacker with full access to an infected Mac, allowing for the taking of screenshots, sending spam, reading the clipboard, accessing files and so on.
“Unfortunately, many Mac users seem oblivious to security threats which can run on their computers. And that isn’t helped when Apple issues an anti-malware security update like this by stealth, rather than informing the public what it has done,” Cluley wrote.
“You have to wonder whether their keeping quiet about an anti-malware security update like this was for marketing reasons. ‘Shh! Don’t tell folks that we have to protect against malware on Mac OS X!’”
Building on that point, Cluley recalled a recent twitter entry from a colleague telling of how he had overheard an Apple Store employee tell potential customers that it was impossible for Macs to be infected with viruses.
“There’s a lot less malicious software for Mac computers than Windows PCs, of course, but the fact that so many Mac owners don’t take security seriously enough, and haven’t bothered installing an anti-virus, might mean they are a soft target for hackers in the future,” Cluley writes.
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Result for: Mac OS
AppleInsider is reporting that Apple is in the midst of updating Safari, QuickTime and Pro apps, each with significant updates.
Reads the full post:
Safari 4.0.5
People familiar with the seedings say one of the primary focuses of Safari 4.0.5 is to fix a regression in the browser’s JavaScript engine that manifested with the release of Safari 4.0.4. The maintenance release will also reportedly see certain code blocks, like Move Code, transitioned from the Safari codebase to that of Webkit in order to improve cross platform support.
A short list of other enhancements planned for the Safari 4.0.5 include improved HTML5 Video Playback, quicker loading of the Top Sites panels, faster JavaScript performance, better performance loading YouTube, and an overall reduced memory footprint.
Additionally, the release should also sport a much improved Plug-in manager aimed at reducing the number of crashes caused by plug-ins, including Adobe Flash plug-in, people familiar with the current betas say. These advances will reportedly also improve load times for plug-ins.
Safari 4.0.5 is currently undergoing tests in four distinct distributions: a build for Windows, one for Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, one for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, and another for Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. Each are members of the 405Axx build train and weigh between 26 and 38 megabytes.
QuickTime 7.66
Meanwhile, Apple is also evaluating a maintenance, security and performance release for QuickTime 7 labeled QuickTime 7.66. It’s expected to be one of the final updates to QuickTime 7 and is currently undergoing evaluation for Mac OS X Leopard and Windows. The current build is said to be build 23.
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Result for: Mac OS
Facebook has announced today that they have signed a deal with McAfee that will give all 350 million members a free six-month license for Internet security software.
“Now, if your computer is infected, you will be asked to run a scan … and clean it before accessing Facebook,” added Facebook project manager Jake Brill. “We’re not aware of another free Internet service that takes this much responsibility for helping people keep their accounts secure.”
After the six months, you will have to pay to continue using the license, but McAfee says the fee will be cheaper than the annual subscription price for the software in stores.
The software will run on Windows PCs only, with no expected Mac OS X or Linux deal coming anytime soon.
