First Mac OS X botnet activated

by admin April 17, 2009 at 5:06 pm

‘iBotnet’ created from trojan found in illegally downloaded Mac software

The first botnet created with Mac computers running OS X software has been activated, according to reports filtering out across the Internet.

Botnets are groups of computers, unwittingly linked together via the internet, that can be remotely controlled to perform tasks. Typically they send out spam email, perform DDoS attacks, and gather personal information.

Botnets are typically created through virus infection, or by installing malicious software (known as malware) on your machine. Malware can take many forms but on the version attacking Mac OS X is typically referred to as a ‘trojan’. Named after the legendary Trojan horse, it is a piece of malicious code that hides inside another piece of software (in this instance illegally downloaded copies of software).

Read more: macworld.co.uk