Hackers are using a bootleg version of Apple’s iWork ’09 for accessing user information on Mac OS X platforms – and that is how the malicious Trojan has found its way into the computers of more than 20,000 unwary Mac users!

The pirated copies of Apple’s productivity suite iWork have the Mac-only malware - dubbed OSX.Trojan.iServices.A – covering itself up as a part of them. These copies are easy-to-find on BitTorrent trackers and other sites that have illegal software links.

According to Intego, an anti-virus software seller for Macs, the phony software is installed as a startup item where it has read-write-execute permission. Upon its installation, it gets unrestrained root access, and is quick to use it for connecting to a remote server through the web. A secondary download results in the Trojan making the naive users part of a botnet that attacks unidentified websites.
 
In an advisory circulated by Intego, security experts caution users against downloading iWork ’09 installers from sites that sponsor the pirated software, along with recommending them to avoid the installation of software from doubtful Web sites and other unsure sources.

The advisory warning goes thus: “The risk of infection is serious, and users may face extremely serious consequences if their Macs are accessible to malicious users.”

The Mac-specific malware is not the first one - last year, Mac users confronted a spurious application called MacSweeper, seeking downloads and payments in the name of a counterfeit cleanup program.