Not so long ago, the Mac was thought to be impervious to viruses. In fact, Apple once stated on its website that “it doesn’t get PC viruses”. But that was before the Mac OS X Trojan Flashback malware appeared in 2012.
Since then, Mac and iPhone security issues have changed dramatically — and so has the security of the entire world. In this post, we’ll revisit how the Flashback incident unfolded and how it changed the security landscape forever.
What is the Mac Flashback Trojan?
Flashback (also called Flashfake) is a type of Mac OS X malware first detected in September 2011. By March 2012, the trojan had infected around 700,000 computers worldwide. After infection, compromised PCs were recruited into a botnet that enabled the installation of additional malicious code. One of the malware’s objectives was to generate fake search engine results.
According to researchers, threat actors used Flashback to siphon Google ad revenue. The trojan’s ad-clicking component loaded into Chrome, Firefox and Safari, where it could intercept browser requests and redirect specific search queries to a page of the attacker’s choosing. From there, criminals raked in click-generated revenue totaling about $10,000 per day.
Infected Through WordPress
According to Kaspersky, Flashback malware spread thanks to ..
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