Recently Discovered Mac Malware Has Long History

Researchers found evidence in the code that the exploit may have been in use for decades.

An article review

It’s a common belief that viruses and other types of malware don’t affect Apple products, but unfortunately, that isn’t always the case. A good example of this was brought to us by our friend Wes Pollard of Home Bank, who sent us an article about a recently discovered exploit whose roots may go back decades.

Dubbed Fruitfly by Apple, the exploit seems to primarily utilize webcam access and screen capturing. Fruitfly was apparently only used in “tightly targeted” attacks, which is why it only recently came to be known to researchers despite decades-old references in its code. These dated references indicate this malware could have roots going back to before OS X, though the exact age and origin of the code remain unknown.

While this exploit may not have posed a threat to the majority of Mac users out there, it serves as a reminder that no platform is immune to the threat posed by malicious code. In fact, researchers speculate that there may be a variant of Firefly that specifically targeted Linux, another operating system often believed to be beyond the reach of malware.

Original article by Thomas Reed, writing for Malwarebytes.