Worm For Mac Computers

About 95% of the world's PCs are based on Microsoft's Windows operating systems. There are hundreds of thousands of viruses and worms aimed at Windows machines. Conversely, there are about 200 worms and viruses targeting Mac computers, but they are extremely low-risk and predate OS X, the current Mac operating system. So, until now writers of malicious software codes were ignoring Mac computers.

Users of Mac computers were thus living happily forever until now...

The popularity of Mac computers are growing especially among young kids who are growing up with iPods. Many adults also switched over from Windows to Mac to avoid the cumbersome fight they continuously need to wage against malicious viruses and spywares. Perhaps that's what is catching the attention of those malicious code writers.

Now, the first worm targeting Apple Computer's Mac OS X' operating system has surfaced, though it does not appear to be widespread or especially dangerous. The so-called 'OSX.Leap.A' worm is designed to spread over iChat, Apple's instant-messaging system. Security experts call it the first notable Mac worm in several years. When launched, it can damage software applications and the operating system. A Web link pointing to the worm offers a sneak peek of screen shots for Leopard, the next major revision of Mac OS X. Those who download the compressed file and attempt to open what looks like a photo file receive the worm.