Macs are vulnerable to spyware too!

This morning on Facebook, my cousin posted that his Gmail account had gotten hacked (the IP traced to one in China), and that bogus emails were sent to everyone in his address book. The bogus emails included a link to a malicious website. I felt pretty confident in clicking on the link, since I was using Blue Coat's free web filtering program K9, and sure enough, it blocked me from getting to the URL, claiming the site was "Illegal/Questionable".

In the comments to my cousin's post on Facebook, I mentioned to him he should scan his computer for spyware, as that was likely the culprit that caused his Gmail account to get compromised. His response? "Impossible, I'm using a Mac". I think his response is a classic one that many Mac users give, when discussing spyware, malware, viruses and trojans. A basic, "it can't happen to me" attitude. Unfortunately, it can happen on Macs, and spyware, and even malware exists on Macs. Spyware is easier to implement since it can just be embedded into javascript on a website, and the browser makes you vulnerable.

Consider this post a friendly reminder, that just because you're using a Mac doesn't make you immune to spyware, malware and viruses. If you're not browsing behind a proxy that's protecting you with anti-malware and URL filtering, consider installing a free web filtering program like K9 (www.getk9.com).