Code injection is a form of behavior similar to that of a virus, and this malware “infects” applications when they are running to be able to carry out its operations. It injects code, without user intervention, into Safari, Firefox and iChat, and copies personal data from these applications.One infected Mac can therefore collect a great deal of data from different computers on a local network, such as in a business or school. It analyzes packets entering and leaving the infected Mac over a local network, analyzing data coming from and being sent to other computers.It is not clear what data it copies and sends to its servers, but it scans files on both local and network volumes, potentially opening up large numbers of confidential files on a network to intrusion. The malware scans accessible volumes, analyzing files, and using a great deal of CPU time.OSX/OpinionSpy opens an HTTP backdoor which potentially enables the undetected downloading of additional malicious applications.

The malware application has no interface and runs with full rights to access and change any file on the infected user’s computer.Other facets of the OSX/OpinionSpy Mac spyware described by the Intego alert include: There are a number of different aspects of this malicious spyware program which cause concern for Apple OS X users including the fact that this malware is particularly stealthy. This shows the need for an up-to-date anti-malware program with a real-time scanner that can detect this malware when it is downloaded by the original application’s installer.” OSX/OpinionSpy – Mac OS X Spyware Details The spyware itself is not contained in these applications, but is downloaded during the installation process. Intego provided additional details of the behavior of the spyware application as, “OSX/OpinionSpy is installed by a number of applications and screen savers that are distributed on sites such as MacUpdate, VersionTracker and Softpedia.

This spyware, OSX/OpinionSpy, performs a number of malicious actions, from scanning files to recording user activity, as well as sending information about this activity to remote servers and opening a backdoor on infected Macs.”

Researchers from Intego, developers of Intenet security and privacy software for Macs, announced their findings ina a security alert on Jentitled, “OSX/OpinionSpy Spyware Installed by Freely Distributed Mac Applications.”Īccording to the Intego alert the company discovered “a spyware application that is installed by a number of freely distributed Mac applications and screen savers found on a variety of websites. A recently discovered Mac spyware application targeted at Apple Mac OSX users is being distributed in free Mac applications found on a variety of shareware websites.

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