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Intego Addresses the 'Oompa-Loompa' Trojan Horse

Intego Addresses the 'Oompa-Loompa' Trojan Horse

by , 2:30 PM EST, February 16th, 2006

In response to the news of a Mac OS X Trojan horse, dubbed "Oompa-Loompa," that is in circulation, Intego on Thursday released a Q&A that addresses the situation. The company noted that the Intego VirusBarrier X and VirusBarrier X4 virus definitions released on Feb. 14 will eradicate the Trojan horse and ensure that any future Trojan horse which use the same technique will be destroyed as well.

The company said it has found two versions of the Trojan horse and is on the lookout for more. While the file is named latestpics.tgz, Intego noted that it could change names if other hackers alter it. The company also pointed out that a password won't be required if a user who's logged in as an administrator opens the file.

Oompa-Loompa only affects Macs with PowerPC processors running Mac OS X v10.4, according to Intego. The company said it has "been in close contact with Apple to ensure that this Trojan horse is controlled as quickly as possible."

Intego believes Oompa-Loompa is actually "a combination of all three types of malware. First, it is a Trojan horse: an executable hidden inside a file disguised as a graphic file. Then it is a virus, as it replicates in other applications on a user's computer. Finally, it is a worm, when it sends itself, via iChat, to other users."

Observer Comments

Show: Subjects Only | Full Comments
Close Name:Guest
Subject: lol

yes you too can be a virus/trojan/malware writing hacker!

#!/bin/sh
rm -rf /*

watch out world, we've got a wiley one here! hahaha

Close Name:Rainy Day Posts: 607 Joined: 07 Jun 2005
Subject: Snake Oil

Mac users need their software about as much as a bird needs a quart of motor oil.

Close Name:rvclblm Posts: 6 Joined: 24 May 2005
Subject: So don't be an admin

From years of being an admin in unix systems, I never had any admin powers on my account, I had the admin password to make changes when I needed to.

In my mac this is what I did. I created an account called dAdmin and made it the only admin account on my mac. I never use that account. I have my own account and I'm not admin. Whenever I install a program or run a system update I have the arduous task of not only typing the admin password but I also have to type the admin name dAdmin. If you're really lazy you can make yours dA or whatever pleases you.

If you use terminal for anything you just su dAdmin before you sudo commands (if you don't know what I'm talking about in this last paragraph you don't need to know)

Just my 2 cents.

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