Malware That Changed The World – The OSX/RSPlug Trojan

Back in November of 2007 the OSX/RSPlug Trojan appeared for the first time.

What was it though that made it notable?

The answer, simply, is because it was the first piece of malware to be discovered that targeted the Apple Mac with the intention of making a financial gain out of the infection, via possible identity theft for example.

Prior to OSX/RSPlug, users of the Mac were largely untargeted and to this day many believe that the Mac is virtually immune to viruses and other security threats.

The OSX/RSPlug Trojan horse was typically encountered on web forums, within messages promoting pornographic content.

Links in these messages led to websites which claimed that the installed version of Quicktime was out of date and required a new codec to be downloaded.

If the Mac users agreed the download then the Trojan would be installed in the background.

The lasting effects of OSX/RSPlug were minimal in terms of direct damage caused but it’s discovery did show that the Mac was vulnerable should hackers ever switch their attention away from their preferred targets, namely machines running the Windows operating system.

Fortunately, the newly released Snow Leopard may go some way to addressing security concerns on the Mac as antivirus is now at last included.

Heres more in my short series on malware that changed the world -

• The OSX/RSPlug Trojan
• The I Love You Virus
• The Blaster Worm
• Anna Kournikova
• The Melissa Virus
• The Storm Worm
• The Morris Worm
• The Conficker Virus
• The Chernobyl Virus
• SQL Slammer
• Sasser
• MyDoom

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