Experts at SophosLabs™, Sophos's global
network of virus, spyware and spam analysis centers, have urged
users of the Apple Mac OS X operating system to install an
important new security update.
Apple has issued the new security update, which fixes a number
of flaws in the Mac OS X operating system that could be exploited
by malicious hackers or malware. The vulnerabilities, if left
unpatched, could allow hackers to run dangerous code on innocent
unprotected computers.
The security update affects the following Mac OS X
components:
apache_mod_php
automount
Bom
Directory Services
iChat
IPSec
LaunchServices
LibSystem
loginwindow
OpenSSH
rsync
Safari
Syndication
Amongst the fixes is an update to the Safari web browser which
was found to be vulnerable to malicious shell scripts. Additionally
the iChat instant messaging system has been updated to warn of
potentially malicious file types being transmitted. The update to
iChat has been issued in the wake of the discovery
of the OSX/Leap-A worm last month.
Separate downloads are available on Apple's website for Mac OS X
v10.3.9 "Panther" client and server versions, as well as Mac OS X
v10.4.5 "Tiger" Intel and PowerPC versions.
"Apple Macs have been in the news for the last few weeks
regarding a number of security issues," said Graham Cluley, senior
technology consultant at Sophos. "It's important that all computer
users are protected against the latest attacks, and have their
computers properly patched against vulnerabilities in the operating
system. It would be a mistake to think that security flaws are only
found in Microsoft's products."
Sophos continues to recommend companies protect their desktops
and servers with automatically updated
anti-virus protection.
More than 100 million users in 150 countries rely on Sophos as the best protection against complex threats and data loss. Sophos is committed to providing security and data protection solutions that are simple to manage, deploy and use and that deliver the industry's lowest total cost of ownership. Sophos offers award-winning encryption, endpoint security, web, email, and network access control solutions backed by SophosLabs - a global network of threat intelligence centers. With more than two decades of experience, Sophos is regarded as a leader in security and data protection by top analyst firms and has received many industry awards.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.