Mac Malware is now getting past Gatekeeper.

If you have been reading my blog from its humble beginnings, you know that it has been a long time since I have done a post about Mac malware. But how can you blame me? There really is not that much in the way of malware for the Mac. There is some, but still not that much in comparison to Windows. This post is the exception.

If you use the latest version of Mac OS X, you likely know about a feature called Gatekeeper. Gatekeeper is meant to stop malware attacks for the Mac by only allowing software that has been digitally signed by Apple to run. If you have recently migrated from Windows, or you have used Windows Vista or 7 for some time, this Gatekeeper is the Mac equivalent to User Account Control.

If malware cannot spoof the credentials and digital signature needed, the malware cannot get through. But recently, Mac malware has learned how to do just that. And echoing the way Windows malware subverted User Account Control, Mac malware is learning how to subvert Gatekeeper. Making Windows ironically safer then Macs due to the fact that User Account Control requires interaction from the user regardless of if the program is signed or not.

The malware that has learned to do this is relatively tame. All it does is covertly take screenshots of your desktop and uploads them to a remote server. It will not harm the Mac it infects, but it could become a potential threat to your privacy, and it is unwelcome on your Mac. But the message sent is clear. If this malware can do this, what's stopping malware that trashes your Mac from doing the same thing? Nothing. Nothing at all unless Apple takes action.

Thank You for reading this post. Comment below if you have any questions or comments.