An Inside Look At The New Apple Mac Malware 'Eleanor'
Researchers from Bitdefender find security hole that opens up a backdoor to the Mac OS X system.
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Apple Mac users, take cover: security researchers at Bitdefender recently found new malware that opens a back door into Mac OS X systems via the Tor network.
Alexandra Gheorghe, security specialist at Bitdefender, says the malware’s creators distribute the malicious code as EasyDoc Converter, a Mac application typically housed on a third-party application site that lets users convert Mac files to PC documents.
The malware strain -- dubbed Backdoor.MAC.Eleanor -- runs a malicious script that installs and registers three components at startup: a Tor Hidden Service, a PHP Web Service, and a PasteBin client.
“Once the components are installed on a system, they can take over commands, close applications, and steal just about all the information on the computer,” Gheorghe explains. “It also can access the computer’s webcam and take pictures and videos of its victims.”
Gheorghe says it’s not yet clear from what country the attack originated from, nor how destructive the malware has been. She says the Eleanor attackers could be after photos, credentials, documents, or other information stored on Macs, or they could be using the compromised Macs to infect other machines.
The malware was discovered through routine analysis Bitdefender runs daily on multiple feeds of data. There are basically two steps users can take to protect themselves, she says: First, don’t download applications from third-party app stores, only from the authorized Apple App Store. And second, install a reputable antivirus system designed to protect Macs.
Here’s a rundown of how the malware operates, according to Bitdefender's findings:
The application presents itself on third-party Mac applications sites as EasyDoc Converter.app. Mac users who download the app expect that they will be able to convert Apple files to Microsoft Word documents. But Eleanor has other plans.
Instead of converting Mac files to Microsoft files, the malware instead installs a backdoor in the system that gives the attacker access to the operating system, tofile explorer, shell execution, webcam image, and video capture. The application is created using Platypus, a tool used for native MAC apps from shell, Perl, Python, or Ruby scripts.
The Tor Hidden Service allows the attacker to access the second backdoor component on the infected machine, a Web Service (PHP), using a Tor-generated address such as: XXXpaceinbeg3yci.onion.
Tor is a well-known anonymization service.
So they can reach the Web Service and gain full control of the infected machine, the attackers need to access a corresponding Tor address.
All the addresses are encrypted and stored to pastebin.com using this agent.
So they can reach the Web Service and gain full control of the infected machine, the attackers need to access a corresponding Tor address.
All the addresses are encrypted and stored to pastebin.com using this agent.
Apple Mac users, take cover: security researchers at Bitdefender recently found new malware that opens a back door into Mac OS X systems via the Tor network.
Alexandra Gheorghe, security specialist at Bitdefender, says the malware’s creators distribute the malicious code as EasyDoc Converter, a Mac application typically housed on a third-party application site that lets users convert Mac files to PC documents.
The malware strain -- dubbed Backdoor.MAC.Eleanor -- runs a malicious script that installs and registers three components at startup: a Tor Hidden Service, a PHP Web Service, and a PasteBin client.
“Once the components are installed on a system, they can take over commands, close applications, and steal just about all the information on the computer,” Gheorghe explains. “It also can access the computer’s webcam and take pictures and videos of its victims.”
Gheorghe says it’s not yet clear from what country the attack originated from, nor how destructive the malware has been. She says the Eleanor attackers could be after photos, credentials, documents, or other information stored on Macs, or they could be using the compromised Macs to infect other machines.
The malware was discovered through routine analysis Bitdefender runs daily on multiple feeds of data. There are basically two steps users can take to protect themselves, she says: First, don’t download applications from third-party app stores, only from the authorized Apple App Store. And second, install a reputable antivirus system designed to protect Macs.
Here’s a rundown of how the malware operates, according to Bitdefender's findings:
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