Mac OS X Virus a Low-Level Threat

Posted by Ken

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Believed to be the first of its kind, a virus specifically designed to infect the Macintosh platform has recently been discovered. The new worm, calling itself OSX/Leap-A, makes its way around by using Apple’s iChat instant message application. Because iChat is also compatible with AOL’s program, it turned a few more heads. The virus embeds itself within a user’s buddy list.

While this does raise a few eyebrows, antivirus experts believe this to be a low-level threat as it requires users to intentionally accept a file. I find this odd for them to point out because that’s how much of the Windows viruses are delivered. A user gets something in their email or a link is given to them in an instant messaging window, and boom — they’re infected. Although, I do admit that we are seeing viruses become more sophisticated, so this human component is becoming less and less of a need.

By and large the Windows platform is a hacker’s operating system of choice to try and infect. That’s because of two reasons: the widespread use of the platform, and it’s an easier target. The Mac OS, on the other hand, and according to my sources, is not so easy to crack. Be that as it may, this recent discovery is evidence that people are trying to crack it.

The bottom line is: get an antivirus program and keep it updated with the latest virus definitions.