Linux & OS X Trojan Found

Security researchers have discovered a potential dangerous Linux and Mac OS X cross-platform trojan.

Once installed on a compromised machine, Wirenet-1 opens a backdoor to a remote command server, and logs key presses to capture passwords and sensitive information typed by victims.

The program also grabs passwords submitted to Opera, Firefox, Chrome and Chromium web browsers, and credentials stored by applications including email client Thunderbird, web suite SeaMonkey, and chat app Pidgin. The malware then attempts to upload the gathered data to a server hosted in the Netherlands.

It might be just me, but Im always leery of anti virus companies finding viruses that their "for sale" software can remove.

The REAL question for Ubuntu linux users is... will it affect us at all? Good question! As with any software installation on Ubuntu, you need to type in your password to confirm the install. There is no way, say on a Windows computer, that this trojan can install itself. That said, it is always imperative that you install software directly from the Ubuntu Software Center to be safe. Be careful when downloading programs from third party sources (such as PPAs for example) or untrusted websites. With a little diligence you should be fine.

Read more here:

http://news.drweb.com/show/?i=2679&lng=en&c=14

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/08/29/linux_mac_trojan/

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