Warning as first serious Apple Mac Trojan hits

IT security specialist Global Secure Systems (GSS) issued the warning as Intego, an Austin, Texas-based Mac security firm, reported the arrival. “The Trojan is unusual in changing the computer’s DNS server to new and malicious entry that actually intercepts and re-routes Web requests to malware-ridden and/or porn sites,” says David Hobson, managing director of GSS. “The problem for Mac OS X 10.4 users is that the user interface does not allow the owner to see that the DNS server has changed. Even under OS X 10.5, the changes are not obvious, as the added DNS entries are dimmed and cannot therefore be directly changed,” he adds. Hobson says Apple Mac users should manually check and update their IT security software to the latest version from their IT security software vendor. “They should also check with their software reseller that their products protect against this new and potentially serious malware development,” he advises.