#1 Trusted Cybersecurity News Platform Followed by 4.50+ million
The Hacker News Logo
Get the Free Newsletter
SaaS Security

Hacking Mac Computer | Breaking Cybersecurity News | The Hacker News

Beware!! New Windows .exe Malware Found Targeting macOS Computers

Beware!! New Windows .exe Malware Found Targeting macOS Computers
Feb 12, 2019
A malicious Windows EXE file can even infect your Mac computer as well. Yes, you heard me right — a .exe malware on macOS. Security researchers at antivirus firm Trend Micro have discovered a novel way hackers are using in the wild to bypass Apple's macOS security protection and infect Mac computers by deploying malicious EXE files that normally run only on Windows computers. Researchers found several samples of malicious macOS application (.dmg) masquerading as installers for popular software on a torrent site that includes an EXE application compiled with Mono framework to make it compatible with macOS. Mono is an open source implementation of Microsoft's .NET Framework that allows developers to create cross-platform .NET applications, which work across all supported platforms, including Linux, Windows and Mac OS X. Usually, running any Windows executable results in error on macOS systems, and its built-in protection mechanisms such as Gatekeeper also skips scann

How Just Opening A Site In Safari Could Have Hacked Your Apple macOS

How Just Opening A Site In Safari Could Have Hacked Your Apple macOS
Nov 22, 2018
Earlier this week Dropbox team unveiled details of three critical vulnerabilities in Apple macOS operating system, which altogether could allow a remote attacker to execute malicious code on a targeted Mac computer just by convincing a victim into visiting a malicious web page. The reported vulnerabilities were originally discovered by Syndis , a cybersecurity firm hired by Dropbox to conduct simulated penetration testing attacks as Red Team on the company's IT infrastructure, including Apple software used by Dropbox . The vulnerabilities were discovered and disclosed to Apple security team in February this year, which were then patched by Apple just over one month later with the release of its  March security updates . DropBox applauded Apple for its quick response to its bug report. According to DropBox, the vulnerabilities discovered by Syndis didn't just affect its macOS fleet, but also affected all Safari users running the latest version of the web browser and op

Making Sense of Operational Technology Attacks: The Past, Present, and Future

Making Sense of Operational Technology Attacks: The Past, Present, and Future
Mar 21, 2024Operational Technology / SCADA Security
When you read reports about cyber-attacks affecting operational technology (OT), it's easy to get caught up in the hype and assume every single one is sophisticated. But are OT environments all over the world really besieged by a constant barrage of complex cyber-attacks? Answering that would require breaking down the different types of OT cyber-attacks and then looking back on all the historical attacks to see how those types compare.  The Types of OT Cyber-Attacks Over the past few decades, there has been a growing awareness of the need for improved cybersecurity practices in IT's lesser-known counterpart, OT. In fact, the lines of what constitutes a cyber-attack on OT have never been well defined, and if anything, they have further blurred over time. Therefore, we'd like to begin this post with a discussion around the ways in which cyber-attacks can either target or just simply impact OT, and why it might be important for us to make the distinction going forward. Figure 1 The Pu

Apple Users, Beware! A Nearly-Undetectable Malware Targeting Mac Computers

Apple Users, Beware! A Nearly-Undetectable Malware Targeting Mac Computers
Jul 25, 2017
Yes, even Mac could also get viruses that could silently spy on its users. So, if you own a Mac and think you are immune to malware, you are wrong. An unusual piece of malware that can remotely take control of webcams, screen, mouse, keyboards, and install additional malicious software has been infecting hundreds of Mac computers for more than five years—and it was detected just a few months back. Dubbed FruitFly , the Mac malware was initially detected earlier this year by Malwarebytes researcher Thomas Reed, and Apple quickly released security patches to address the dangerous malware. Now months later, Patrick Wardle, an ex-NSA hacker and now chief security researcher at security firm Synack, discovered around 400 Mac computers infected with the newer strain of the FruitFly malware (FruitFly 2) in the wild. Wardle believes the number of infected Macs with FruitFly 2 would likely be much higher, as he only had access to some servers used to control FruitFly. Although it i

Automated remediation solutions are crucial for security

cyber security
websiteWing SecurityShadow IT / SaaS Security
Especially when it comes to securing employees' SaaS usage, don't settle for a longer to-do list. Auto-remediation is key to achieving SaaS security.

Website of Popular Mac Software Hacked to Spread Malware

Website of Popular Mac Software Hacked to Spread Malware
May 08, 2017
If you have recently downloaded the popular open source video transcoder app HandBrake on your Mac, there are chances that your computer is infected with a notorious Remote Access Trojan (RAT). The HandBrake team issued a security alert on Saturday, warning Mac users that one of its mirror servers to download the software has been compromised by hackers. In case you aren't aware, HandBrake is an open source video transcoder app that allows Mac users to convert multimedia files from one format to another. According to the HandBrake team, an unknown hacker or group of hackers compromised the download mirror server (download.handbrake.fr) and then replaced the Mac version of the HandBrake client (HandBrake-1.0.7.dmg) with a malicious version infected with a new variant of Proton . Originally discovered in February on a Russian underground hacking forum, Proton is a Mac-based remote access trojan that gives attackers root access privileges to the infected system. The af

New MacOS Malware linked to Russian Hackers Can Steal Passwords & iPhone Backups

New MacOS Malware linked to Russian Hackers Can Steal Passwords & iPhone Backups
Feb 16, 2017
Security researchers have discovered a new Mac malware allegedly developed by APT28 Russian cyber espionage group who is believed to be responsible for 2016 presidential election hacking scandal. A new variant of the X-Agent spyware is now targeting Apple macOS system that has previously been used in cyber attacks against Windows, iOS, Android, and Linux devices. The malware is designed to steal web browser passwords, take screenshots of the display, detect system configurations, execute files and exfiltrate iPhone backups stored on the computer. The X-Agent malware is tied to Russian hacking group known as APT28 — also known as Fancy Bear, Sofacy, Sednit, and Pawn Storm — that has been operating since at least 2007 and is allegedly linked to the Russian government. "Our past analysis of samples known to be linked to APT28 group shows a number of similarities between the Sofacy/APT28/Sednit Xagent component for Windows/Linux and the Mac OS binary that currently forms

Watch Out! First-Ever Word Macro Malware for Apple Mac OS Discovered in the Wild

Watch Out! First-Ever Word Macro Malware for Apple Mac OS Discovered in the Wild
Feb 10, 2017
After targeting Windows-based computers over the past few years, hackers are now shifting their interest to Macs as well. The emergence of the first macro-based Word document attack against Apple's macOS platform is the latest example to prove this. The concept of Macros dates back to 1990s. You might be familiar with the message that reads: " Warning: This document contains macros. " Macro is a series of commands and actions that help automate some tasks. Microsoft Office programs support Macros written in Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), but they can also be used for malicious activities like installing malware. Until now, hackers were cleverly using this technique to target Windows. However, security researchers have now detected the first in-the-wild instance of hackers are making use of malicious macros in Word documents to install malware on Mac computers and steal your data – an old Windows technique. The hack tricks victims into opening infected W

This $5 Device Can Hack your Password-Protected Computers in Just One Minute

This $5 Device Can Hack your Password-Protected Computers in Just One Minute
Nov 16, 2016
You need to be more careful next time while leaving your computer unattended at your office, as it cost hackers just $5 and only 30 seconds to hack into any computer. Well-known hardware hacker Samy Kamkar has once again devised a cheap exploit tool, this time that takes just 30 seconds to install a privacy-invading backdoor into your computer, even if it is locked with a strong password. Dubbed PoisonTap , the new exploit tool runs freely available software on a tiny $5/£4 Raspberry Pi Zero microcomputer, which is attached to a USB adapter. The attack works even if the targeted computer is password-protected if a browser is left open in the computer's background. All an attacker need is to plug the nasty device in the target computer and wait. Here's How PoisonTap works: Once plugged into a Windows or Mac computer via USB port, the tiny device starts impersonating a new ethernet connection. Even if the victim's device is connected to a WiFi network, Poi

Apple Mac OS X Hits by Two Unpatched Zero-day Flaws

Apple Mac OS X Hits by Two Unpatched Zero-day Flaws
Aug 19, 2015
Few days after Apple patched the DYLD_PRINT_TO_FILE privilege-escalation vulnerability in OS X Yosemite, hackers have their hands on another zero-day bug in its operating system that allows hackers to gain root privileges to Mac computers. Italian teenager Luca Todesco ( @qwertyoruiop ) has discovered two unknown zero-day vulnerabilities in Apple's Mac OS X operating system that could potentially be exploited to gain remote access to a Mac computer. The 18-year-old self-described hacker has also posted details of his finding with source code for an exploit on the Github repository , as well as software to mitigate the vulnerability. OS X Zero-Day Exploit in the Wild The hacker's exploit makes use of two system flaws (which he dubbed ' tpwn ') in order to cause a memory corruption in OS X's kernel . Due to memory corruption, it's possible to circumvent the space layout randomization of the kernel address, therefore bypassing the toughe

Thunderstrike 2: World's First Firmware Worm That Infects Mac Computers Without Detection

Thunderstrike 2: World's First Firmware Worm That Infects Mac Computers Without Detection
Aug 05, 2015
If you think Apple's Mac computers are much more secure than Windows-powered systems, you need to think again. This isn't true, and security researchers have finally proved it. Two security researchers have developed a proof-of-concept computer worm for the first time that can spread automatically between MacBooks, without any need for them to be networked. Dubbed Thunderstrike 2 , the new proof-of-concept firmware attack is inspired by previously developed proof-of-concept firmware called Thunderstrike. Thunderstrike Attack , developed by security engineer Trammell Hudson, actually took advantage of a vulnerability in Thunderbolt Option ROM that could be used to infect Apple Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) by allocating a malicious code into the boot ROM of an Apple computer through infected Thunderbolt devices. Thunderstrike 2 Spreads Remotely Although the original Thunderstrike required an attacker to have physical access to your Mac computer to work, t

Unpatched Mac OS X Zero-day Bug Allows Root Access Without Password

Unpatched Mac OS X Zero-day Bug Allows Root Access Without Password
Aug 04, 2015
Hackers have their hands on something of your concern. A severe zero-day vulnerability in the latest, fully patched version of Apple's Mac OS X is reportedly being exploited in the wild by the hackers. The vulnerability could allow attackers to install malware and adware onto a target Mac, running OS X 10.10 (Yosemite) operating system, without requiring victims to enter system passwords , a new report says. The zero-day bug came over a week after security researcher Stefan Esser discovered a privilege escalation zero-day vulnerability in the latest version of Apple's OS X Yosemite that caused due to environment variable DYLD_PRINT_TO_FILE and dynamic linker dyld , new error-logging features added to the operating system. The developers failed to implement standard safeguards that are needed while adding support for new environment variables to the OS X dynamic linker dyld, allowing hackers to create or modify files with root privileges that can fit anywhere i

Rootpipe — Critical Mac OS X Yosemite Vulnerability Allows Root Access Without Password

Rootpipe — Critical Mac OS X Yosemite Vulnerability Allows Root Access Without Password
Nov 04, 2014
A Swedish Security researcher has discovered a critical vulnerability in Apple's OS X Yosemite that gives hackers the ability to escalate administrative privileges on a compromised machine, and allows them to gain the highest level of access on a machine, known as root access. The vulnerability, dubbed as " Rootpipe ", was uncovered by Swedish white-hat hacker Emil Kvarnhammar , who is holding on the full details about the privilege escalation bug until January 2015, as Apple needs some time to prepare a security patch. " Details on the #rootpipe exploit will be presented, but not now. Let's just give Apple some time to roll out a patch to affected users, " Emil Kvarnhammar, IT specialist and hacker security company Truesec, tweeted from his twitter account. By exploiting the vulnerability in the Mac OS X Yosemite , an attacker could bypass the usual safeguard mechanisms which are supposed to stop anyone who tries to root the operating system through a tempora
Cybersecurity Resources