Mac Flashback trojan hacker may have been identified, researcher says FBI will likely investigate

“The Flashback trojan is one of the most successful attacks on Mac computers ever discovered, and one security reporter believes he has identified the person responsible for the malware,” Meghan Kelly reports for VentureBeat.

“Brian Krebs of Krebs on Security researched the trojan on a few underground online forums dealing with black-hat search engine optimization and general cybercrime
Read more at http://venturebeat.com/2013/04/03/flashback-trojan-creator/#rU8DUvjK8iID6xsJ.99 ,” Kelly reports. “He obtained a copy of a private conversation between a person called “Mavook,” listed as a “V.I.P.” on one of these forums, BlackSEO.com. The correspondence, translated from its original Russian, shows Mavook telling another member that he created the Flashback trojan as a reason why he should be let into an exclusive hacker forum Darkode.com.””

Kelly reports, “‘I believe Brian is right, but I don’t believe this is hardcore evidence to get him arrested,’ said Sean Sullivan, F-Secure’s security advisor… Apple, who is already working with “law enforcement” on the hack that disrupted a number of high profile companies in Silicon Valley (such as Microsoft and Facebook), will likely bring this man’s name up in those dealings. From there, the FBI can do its own digging for enough evidence to arrest — if there is any.”

Read more in the full article here.

Related articles:
Apple releases Flashback Removal Security Update for Leopard, Leopard Security Update 2012-003 – May 14, 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