Security firm F-Secure has uncovered a new cross-platform malware threat that has frightened no shortage of Windows, Mac, and Linux users this week.
The malware was designed to give hackers remote access to a user’s computer.
“All three files for the three different platforms behave the same way,” the report reads. “They all connect to 186.87.69.249 to get additional code to execute. The ports are 8080, 8081, and 8082 for OSX, Linux, and Windows respectively.”
According to the observations of several leading Internet security analysts, this new malware could impact a very broad segment of computer owners.
Sophos security expert Graham Cluley says the potential for exposure to the malware is great.
“Once it has found out which operating system you are running,” he said, “the Java class file will download the appropriate flavor of malware, with the intention of opening a backdoor that will give hackers remote access to your computer.”
“Although the amount of malware written for different operating systems can vary,” Cluley says, “it’s becoming increasingly hard to argue on any OS that it’s safe to surf the web without anti-virus protection.”
To read more about the threat and how to protect yourself, check out the full post at Sophos.
