Although Windows users are often exposed viruses, worms, and other assorted malware, OS X users have been largely free of such headaches. However, last week, a piece of malware known as Leap-A, came to light. The potentially malicious program comes disguised as an image file—after expanding the compressed archive and double-clicking it, Leap-A launches and installs itself on your system.
Macworld Senior Editor Rob Griffiths spent a tremendous amount of time last week getting to the bottom of Leap-A; I spoke to him about what Mac users should know about this malware, how to protect themselves from getting it, and what to do if they’ve inadvertently installed it.
Listen to episode 29
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Show notes
• Rob put together a Leap-A FAQ that provides answers to many of the commonly asked questions about this piece of malware. He and frequent Macworld contributor Kirk McElhearn also spent time testing Leap-A to gauge how serious a threat it actually poses.
Derik DeLong points out that Leap-A is not the first piece of malware to be released for Mac OS X.
•In this podcast Rob mentions a new Safari exploit—you can get the details on it here.
•In non-malware news, I mention Apple’s latest press event, scheduled for February 28. Macworld will be providing live coverage, and, of course, a podcast following the event.
Music credits
“Basic” by Epicte the Elemental. Want to hear more of his music? Need a DJ in the Washington, D.C. area? E-mail him at epicte [at] gmail [dot] com.