Hackers are increasingly targeting Apple's Macintosh computer with the same financially motivated schemes as they do PCs, concludes a new security report from IT security and control firm Sophos.Contributing to their malicious efforts: the rising popularity in Apple-based peripherals, such as the iPhone and the iPod (both of which have been doubled in capacity, Apple announced today).

Interestingly, much of the Mac attack methods are a reincarnation of existing Windows viruses tweaked for the Mac platform, Dan De Bolt, director of antispyware research at CA, told MacNewsWorld.

"Although Macs have a long way to go in the popularity stakes before they overtake PCs, particularly in the workplace, their increased attractiveness to consumers has proven irresistible to some criminal cybergangs," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos, in a statement.

Researchers detected the first financially driven Mac attack last November, when multiple versions of the malicious OSX/RSPlug Trojan horse appeared to be specifically designed to infect Mac computers for the purposes of phishing and identity theft, according to the Sophos report "Security Threat Report 2008."

Going forward, the report also cited mobile technologies, Wi-Fi-enabled devices and low-cost laptops are prime targets for hackers.MacNewsWorld, ChannelWeb