New Microsoft Office Malware spreading across Mac OS X computers that has ms office installed. This vulnerability (MS09-27) affects Apple macs mostly that has older version of MS Office for Mac or people use pirated ms office on Mac OS X. Microsoft has released an update to address this issue in June 2009, still many computers are getting infected because of the above mentioned reasons. If you have purchased MS Office for Mac, then its time to check for latest patches and update releases.
If you are using pirated ms office on mac os x, then its time to uninstall it and look for Microsoft Office alternatives on Mac. Apple mac is secure by default, and rarely gets any malware or virus attacks. Mostly malware attacks that targets third party softwares running on Mac OS X. This malware considered as high security threat as it allows “Remote Code Execution” in Microsoft Word, which can be triggered by just opening a booby trapped word document.
The malicious code can be injected to any word document, hence it is so easy to spread it to any mac computer that has this unpatched version of ms office running in it. Once you opened the word document, the code runs in background and infects your system. This makes it so easy for the hacker to compromise an apple mac and access the entire date remotely.
Antivirus for Mac OS X
Even the macs default security system wont be helpful with this vulnerability. The prompt for administrator username and password that comes before any software installation on Mac OS X not going to work in this case. You will not get any prompt for administrator credentials.
The reason for no login prompt is because neither the /tmp/ nor /$HOME/Library/LaunchAgents folders on Mac OS X require root privileges. Software applications that we install can run in userland with no difficulties, and even open up network sockets to transfer any data, mentioned in Naked Security.
Antivirus companies are the first one to spot this wild spreading malware and warned other users as well. Sophos the famous antivirus and internet security software provider has detected malicious documents as “Troj/DocOSXDr-B” and once its executed the malware that is being dropped as the Mac Trojan horse program “OSX/Agent-AADL“. Which has got several development from its previous versions, as there are three distinct version spotted so far by security companies.
Apple did mention sometime ago that installing an antivirus software on Mac OS X, may be a recommended solution to protect your computer from internet threats and virus attacks. Mac is secure without any doubt, but the third party software that you install and use opens the door for security threats and web based attacks. Consider installing an antivirus on mac today to protect your computer from new Malware attacks or threats also from Windows viruses.
Ofcourse, windows viruses or trojans are useless on Mac, but you may share it with your friends and family members through storage drives and other mediums. So installing an antivirus from famous brand is advisable and best to prevent any security issues.
The best solution to prevent from this mac malware is to uninstall or remove the Microsoft Office from your Mac completely if you are using pirated edition that received no update for long time. If you have purchased MS Office for Mac OS X, then update it right away if you havent done recently. Thanks for reading and have a wonderful and productive day !
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