French security firm bashes Microsoft for warning of Mac malware

“A Mac security firm today criticized Microsoft for warning Mac users of new malware, saying that the threat simply wasn’t worth mentioning,” Gregg Keizer reports for Computerworld

“Late Monday, the Microsoft Malware Protection Center (MMPC), the group that researches malware and crafts signatures for the company’s antivirus products, alerted users of a new Mac ‘backdoor,’ a program that, once installed, downloads additional attack code or lets hackers steal files from the compromised computer,” Keizer reports. “In a blog post, Microsoft malware engineer Meths Ferrer said that MMPC had found the backdoor, dubbed ‘Backdoor:MacOS X/Olyx.A,’ in an archived file that also contained a Windows backdoor called ‘Wolyx.A.'”

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“But Intego, a French antivirus company that focuses exclusively on the Mac, took exception to Ferrer’s blog post,” Keizer reports. “‘They’re making it out like this is something serious, but it’s not in the wild at all and not being installed,’ said Peter James, a spokesman for Intego. ‘This is no big deal.'”

Full article, complete with an unfortunate line from Keizer perpetuating the security via obscurity myth, here.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Tom McTighe” for the heads up.]

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