Mac OS X trojan attacks websites from your computer

Mac computers have been known to be rather resilient against virus’s and malware, but that doesn’t mean that Mac users should be taking that for granted, especially since hackers have managed to port over of the Linux/Tsunami trojan horse onto Mac OS X. The new trojan has been dubbed OSX/Tsunami and it basically takes over your computer and uses it to attack other websites, which could prove to be complicated should legal action be taken against you.

Discovered by software security company, ESET, it’s similar to its Linux predecessor in the sense that it uses IRC (Internet Relay Chat) to communicate. The malware will “listen” to a list of hardcoded IRC channels on specific servers, and execute commands that have been typed by others in those chatrooms, meaning that your computer and your internet is being commandeered by an unknown third party.

The attacks that will be sent from your computer will be targeted at individual websites, sending a large number of simultaneous requests, or better known as Distributed Denial of Service attack (DDoS). For those unfamiliar, this can sometimes cause websites to crash and go offline. Needless to say, keeping your anti-virus up to date and avoiding downloads from suspicious websites will be a step in keeping your Mac clean and free from such malware in the future.