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• IBotnet is a computer virus targeted at Mac computers. Discovered by a couple of Symantec researchers, the Trojan horse-type program has infected a few thousand Macs since it was first reported in January 2009. Analysts have speculated that since Mac users are growing in numbers they have become targets for malicious software programs.CNN.com: Experts: Malicious program targets Macs (April 22, 2009)

• Fast Facts

  1. Discovered by Malware hunters at Symantec
  2. Mario Ballano Barcena and Alfredo Pesoli found two malware variants of IBotnetZDNet: iBotnet: Researchers find signs of zombie Macs (April 16, 2009)
  3. Malware variants: OSX.Iservice and OSX.Iservice.BZDNet: iBotnet: Researchers find signs of zombie Macs (April 16, 2009)
  4. The variants can be found in fraudulent copies of iWork ’09 and Adobe Photoshop CS4ZDNet: iBotnet: Researchers find signs of zombie Macs (April 16, 2009)
  5. Users downloading the programs with the IBotnet variant would be infectedZDNet: iBotnet: Researchers find signs of zombie Macs (April 16, 2009)
  6. Targets Mac OSZDNet: iBotnet: Researchers find signs of zombie Macs (April 16, 2009)
  7. The infected programs were shared on BitTorrent
  8. First discovered in January 2009
  9. Barcena and Pesoli published a report on IBotnet in the April 2009 issue of Virus Bulletin
  10. Experts say it can be easily removed when identifiedSCMagazine: Mac attack: Bot herders going after Apple... (April 17, 2009)
  11. ARS Technica reports that removing /System/Library/StartupItems/DivX and/or /System/Library/StartupItems/iWorkServices may helpARS Technica: Evidence suggests first zombie Mac botnet is active (April 16, 2009)

• IBotnet Background

  Discovered in January 2009 by two Malware hunters at Symantec, the IBotnet has two variants that have been encoded in copies of iWork ’09 and Adobe Photoshop CS4. The iWork and Photoshop programs with IBotnet were found on BitTorrent, and as of April 2009, have only infected a few thousand users. Due to the disproportional number of Mac versus PC users, programmers that construct Malware typically target PCs. However, analysts have stated that the IBotnet may indicate a paradigm shift in the type of Malware polluting the web.

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