New OS X trojan injects ads into pages browsed by Chrome, Firefox, and Safari

“A new trojan specifically for Macs has been discovered that installs an adware plugin,” Emil Protalinski reports for TNW.

“The malware attempts to monetize its attack by injecting ads into Chrome, Firefox, and Safari (the most popular browsers on Apple’s desktop platform) in the hopes that users will generate money for its creators by viewing (and maybe even clicking) them,” Protalinski reports. “The threat, detected as ‘Trojan.Yontoo.1’ by Russian security firm Doctor Web, is part of a wider scheme of adware for OS X that has ‘been increasing in number since the beginning of 2013,’ according to the company.”

Protalinski reports, “This particular trojan can get onto your Mac in multiple ways. Criminals have so far used movie trailer pages that prompt users to install a browser plugin, a media player, a video quality enhancement program, or a download accelerator. In other words, the usual schemes we’ve seen on Windows. When launched, Trojan.Yontoo.1 prompts the user to install something called ‘Free Twit Tube’ or something similar.”

Read more in the full article here.

Related articles:
New Mac trojan hints at ties to high-priced commercial hacking toolkit – July 27, 2012
Warning: New Java trojan targets Apple’s OS X along with Windows, Linux – July 11, 2012
Symantec: Mac Flashback trojan infections declining rapidly, have dropped six-fold in a week – April 18, 2012
Apple releases Flashback trojan removal tool – April 14, 2012
Apple releases Java Update to remove Flashback trojan – April 12, 2012
600,000 Macs infected with Flashback trojan, 274 in Cupertino; how to check your Mac – April 5, 2012
Warning: New Mac trojan hides in pirated graphics software – November 1, 2011
Hackers port Linux trojan to Mac OS X – October 26, 2011
Apple updates OS X Lion, Snow Leopard malware definitions to address new trojan – September 26, 2011
New OS X trojan horse sends screenshots, files to remote servers – September 23, 2011
Apple: How to avoid or remove MACDefender malware (permanent fix coming in Mac OS X update) – May 24, 2011
Apple: How to avoid or remove MACDefender malware (permanent fix coming in Mac OS X update) – May 24, 2011
MACDefender trojan protection and removal guide – May 20, 2011
Apple investigating ‘MACDefender’ trojan – May 19, 2011
Apple malware: 6 years of crying wolf – May 6, 2011
Is Mac under a virus attack? No. – May 4, 2011
Intego: MACDefender rogue anti-malware program attacks Macs via SEO poisoning – May 2, 2011
Sophos details new Mac OS X Trojan – February 28, 2011
Warning: Mac users beware of yet another trojan masquerading as video codec – June 11, 2009
CNN blows it; gets all worked up about a Mac Trojan that isn’t the first nor is it the last – April 23, 2009
Mac trojan expands to affect pirated versions of Photoshop CS4 – January 26, 2009
Intego: Mac trojan horse found in pirated Apple iWork ‘09 – January 22, 2009
New Mac OS X Trojan horse identified – June 23, 2008
Mac OS X Scareware trojan ‘MacSweep from Imunizator’ tries to scam Mac users – March 29, 2008
Mac trojan makers churn out slightly modified versions to evade anti-malware detection – November 08, 2007
Mac DNS Changer Trojan [OSX/Puper] relatively simple; works like the Windows version – November 01, 2007
New Mac OS X Trojan warning – February 16, 2006
Apple: ‘Opener’ is not a virus, Trojan horse, or worm – November 02, 2004

Reader Feedback

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.