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Computer Virus for Apple Spreads

Posted on: Saturday, 18 February 2006, 00:00 CST

By Richard J. Dalton Jr., Newsday, Melville, N.Y.

Feb. 18--A worm is waiting to slither into the Apple and another is already crawling around, the first computer worms designed to attack Apple's newest operating system, Macintosh OS X.

The worms -- computer viruses that self-propagate -- are significant because Apple's Macintosh computers have been viewed as more secure than PCs running Microsoft Windows.

The Inqtana virus, discovered yesterday, spreads via the Bluetooth wireless capability. But Apple has already fixed the security hole that Inqtana seeks to exploit.

The OS X / Leap-A virus, detected Thursday on a forum popular among Mac users, spreads via instant messaging once a user downloads and installs it. A software update wouldn't stop Leap-A from spreading; users just shouldn't download files from unknown sources, experts said.

"Apple always advises Macintosh users to only accept files from Web sites they know and trust," an Apple spokesman said.

The viruses appear to be innocuous, defined as level 1 by Symantec, with level 5 the most severe.

Two apparently unrelated Apple viruses in two days could portend more attacks, experts said.

"It's sort of a wake-up call for Apple users," said Johannes Ullrich, chief research officer of the Internet Storm Center, an early-warning service for malicious computer attacks. "Everybody focuses on Windows, but there are viruses for other operating systems."

Apple's move to the Intel chip could further jeopardize Macintosh computers because viruses writers have had years of experience writing malicious code exploiting the chip's vulnerabilities, said Dean Turner, senior manager for Symantec Security Response.

The Apple computer has been vulnerable since its inception. In 1981, the Apple II was hit with a trio of viruses -- some of the first to spread in the public domain.

Although Apple computers are "much, much safer than Windows," some Macintosh users are in denial that the system is vulnerable, said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos, a computer security company with U.S. headquarters in Boston. "Some of them have to take their heads out of the sand a bit."

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Source: Newsday, Melville, N.Y.

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