It used to be the case that people could claim that Apple software wasn"t susceptible to viruses, but it"s not so anymore. Actually, it hasn"t been for a while. Today, another Mac-borne virus was identified that uses processing power of computers to generate "Bitcoins," a virtual currency.
According to TechWorld, the Trojan uses infected Macs" video cards to generate Bitcoins. Antivirus companies said that the trojan is being distributed with legitimate software over BitTorrent. They said today that:
"This malware is complex, and performs many operations," security researchers from Mac antivirus vendor Intego warned. "It is a combination of several types of malware: It is a Trojan horse, since it is hidden inside other applications; it is a backdoor, as it opens ports and can accept commands from command and control servers; it is a stealer, as it steals data and Bitcoin virtual money; and it is a spyware, as it sends personal data to remote servers,"
The trojan actually installs a legitimate application that is used in the Bitcoin production process -- called DiabloMiner -- but configures it to distribute the coins to the creators of the virus. As the application uses the GPU to create the currency, the machine runs extremely slow as a result.
Additionally, the trojan spies on users by taking automated screen captures and logging usernames and passwords, copying encrypted data, your Safari browsing history and more, then sending them back to the creators of the infection.
It"s clearly time for users on OS X to seriously consider installing antivirus protection, as this is pretty serious compared to other threats we"ve seen out there. If you"re not running anything yet, there are plenty of free solutions out there.