Winextra – I love it when a Linux or Mac balloon gets busted

It never fails that when you mention security and all the malware that goes with it the typical smartass replies from the Linux or Mac contingent is to suggest the best protection is to nuke Windows and replace it with Linux (or OS X). I have always maintained over the years that it is only a matter of time before these nerdy geeks would have to eat their words and it would see that when it comes to Linux that time is about now.

Thanks to a post by Ed Bott we find out that one of the stalwart Linux IRC (Internet Relay Chat) servers, Unreal IRC, has been infected with with a backdoor trojan. Now this may not seem all that important in this Facebook social media day and age but the Unreal IRC server is one of the most widely used IRC servers in the world.

It would seem that one of the mirrors download sites started hosting and infected package almost 8 months ago which means the proliferation could be quite extensive. From the official announcement:

Hi all,

This is very embarrassing…

We found out that the Unreal3.2.8.1.tar.gz file on our mirrors has been replaced quite a while ago with a version with a backdoor (trojan) in it.

This backdoor allows a person to execute ANY command with the privileges of the user running the ircd. The backdoor can be executed regardless of any user restrictions (so even if you have passworded server or hub that doesn’t allow any users in).

As Ed points out it is additionally funny given that the replacement happened back on November of 2009 and no-one noticed. Not only that but the Windows (SSL and non-ssl) version of the same software wasn’t affected.

Ed goes on to say that Mac users shouldn’t be high-fiving each other too much

Meanwhile, Mac users shouldn’t get complacent either. Intego has reported two in-the-wild outbreaks of a Trojan horse program found on game sites and a gruesome piece of spyware that tags along with screen savers and other freebie apps. (And Intego says they found copies of the unwanted software even after the original distributor claimed to have removed it.)

Would you like a bottle of ketchup to go with that crow?

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John E. Bredehoft

In addition to the shocking revelation that no operating system is 100% malware-proof, it should also be noted that many computers with operating systems are operated by human beings, and human beings are susceptible to social engineering ploys. Yes, even a Linux or Mac user may believe that a rich government official in Nigeria needs to get money out of the country - and even the almighty Steve Jobs can't do anything about that.

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