Apple has reportedly armed Snow Leopard, the newest version of its Mac OS X operating system, with a new feature to scan downloads for malware. The OS is slated to be released on Friday.It appears Apple has bolstered Snow Leopard with some new spots to enhance security.
In this case, Apple has apparently added a new malware scanner to
analyze downloads for malicious content. Apple did not return a request
for comment on the feature, which has understandably caught the
attention of security companies.
"Were naturally curious about this feature, and about how thorough it
is, Peter James, global spokesperson for Mac security firm Intego,
wrote on the companys blog.
Intego posted a
picture of the feature at work on its blog detecting a download made
via Safari that contained a version of the RSPlug Trojan in a
downloaded disk image.
In a report today,
The
Register cited an analysis of a corresponding preferences file called
XProtect.plist and interviews with people who tested Snow Leopard.
According to the report, the feature appears to check for just two
known Mac Trojans. It also reportedly flags those files only if they
are downloaded from the Web via Safari, iChat, Entourage and a handful
of other applications.
If the reports are accurate, the feature will be included in the new version of Mac OS X scheduled to be released Aug. 28.
Security is always a
contentious topic when it comes to Mac, due to debates about whether
the lack of security threats for Mac when compared to Microsoft Windows
is the result of better security or lower market share. Regardless,
there is evidence attackers are paying more attention to Mac. Earlier
this year, for example, malware authors tried to build arguably the
first known Mac botnet. Meanwhile, security researchers have shown repeatedly that the systems security can be beaten.
Graham
Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos, called the anti-malware
feature an interesting step for Apple, since Apples marketing machine
has continuously sought to present the Mac as immune to security
threats.
If
the reports are true - it will be interesting to find out what
anti-virus engine Apple is using under the hood, and see how it
compares to some of the commercial anti-virus solutions for Mac that
exist, blogged Cluley.