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Mac Users Under Trojan Threat

A ‘Trojan Horse’ application called Oompa-Loompa (OSX/Oomp-A or OSX/Leap-A) is making the rounds in the Macintosh universe. While this application is not a virus, it does have some virus- or worm-like properties and is probably the closest thing to affect the Mac platform since the launch of the Unix-based Mac OS X.

As in the past, some media outlets and companies will probably attempt to arouse concern of a major security threat against the Mac platform. But the Oompa-Loompa trojan can only activate when a user unpacks a tgz compressed file and double-clicks the application (which appears at a cursory glance to be an image file). The trojan then infects random applications and attempts to propagate via iChat (Apple’s AIM program), but the receiving users again can only be infected if they intentionally decompress and run the application.

In other words, don’t double-click strange files. This goes for users of all computer platforms. For more information on this trojan, Andrew’s Post at the Ambrosia Software message board is the best source.

Scott Bradford has been putting his opinions on his website since 1995—before most people knew what a website was. He has been a professional web developer in the public- and private-sector for over twenty years. He is an independent constitutional conservative who believes in human rights and limited government, and a Catholic Christian whose beliefs are summarized in the Nicene Creed. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Public Administration from George Mason University. He loves Pink Floyd and can play the bass guitar . . . sort-of. He’s a husband, pet lover, amateur radio operator, and classic AMC/Jeep enthusiast.