Flashback Trojan was discovered in the wild, exploiting java vulnerabilities on Mac OS X operating systems. The malware brought downfall to the clear image of Apple’s operating system. The same java exploit was being incorporated into the infamous BlackHole exploit kit by cyber crooks. According to Symantec experts, Flashback Trojan is generating incomes of as much as $10,000 per day in advertising click fraud.To determine the approximate sum of money earned by the creators of Flashback, the researchers compared it to the W32.Xpaj.B ad-clicking Trojan that was making the rounds in August 2011.If Xpaj made around $450 (342 EUR) per day with a botnet that totaled 25,000 bots, the 650,000 machines that were overtaken by Flashback at its peak may have generated a sum that exceeds $10,000 (7,600 EUR). The large amounts of money were generated by an ad-clicking element that was downloaded by the initial OSX.Flashback.K component.
Once a system is infected, the malware monitors and intercepts web traffic, targeting the ‘GET’ and ‘POST’ calls from the web browser as well as search queries. When users of machines infected by the Trojan attempt to follow links or search results for certain terms, their systems are redirected by the malware to web sites run by third-party affiliates who then pay out ad commissions to the malware operators.”Flashback specifically targets search queries made on Google and, depending on the search query, may redirect users to another page of the attacker’s choosing, where they receive revenue from the click,” explained Symantec experts. Though this Trojan is a big blow on Mac’s security, parallel the makers are earning quite hefty amount. Stay tuned to get more on the news.
