iWorm, a malware discovered in late September, which had infected thousands of Mac systems is still prevalent in most Mac machines, according to researchers. Apple released an update for its XProtect antivirus engine to detect iWorm, which had infected thousands of Macs, but the update detects the malware only when iWorm’s installer is launched, which is a one-time operation, say researchers. It means that Mac systems which are already infected with iWorm before the update would still be compromised.
Apple’s XProtect system offers basic protection against few Mac threats. However, it does not provide live malware scanning, protection against Windows threats or phishing sites. It fails to deliver protection that a full-featured anti-virus software can provide.
What iWorm malware exactly does?
iWorm malware after infecting the Mac system, makes a connection with a command and control (C & C) server out on the Internet. After connected with the C & C server, it can easily execute various tasks, such as: stealing personal or corporate data, installing other malicious software applications, making configuration changes and much more. iWorm, which can steal data from a Mac system, has already infected more than 18,000 machines.
How does it infect a Mac system?
The malware was found in the pirated copies of Adobe Systems’ Photoshop and Illustrator applications, Parallels Desktop and Microsoft Office for Mac software provided on The Pirate Bay and also through the infamous search engine for content shared using the BitTorrent P2P network.
Researchers say that Apple has released a signature, but it is not enough to address the problem. This issue can only be resolved if the user has another antivirus product installed on their Mac system. Ultimately, it means that malware authors will still be able to take benefit of the iWorm malware.
Hence, it is extremely crucial to have reliable antivirus software installed in your Mac. eScan Anti-Virus Security for Mac is designed exclusively for Apple Macintosh machines running Mac OS X. It provides real-time protection to Mac machines against Viruses, Spyware, Adware, Rootkits, Botnets, Keyloggers, and other security threats.
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