Skype's Dangerous Exploit: What You Need to Know

Security researchers revealed a dangerous exploit in Skype for Mac which can be exploited to create a worm that can take control of Mac PCs.This FAQ will help you understand the potential impact of the threat, and what you can do to protect your system.

What is the vulnerability?
PureHacking, an Australian security research firm published a blog post describing a vulnerability and proof of concept exploit affecting Skype for Mac.

Apple wormSecurity researchers claim the Skype for Mac zero-day could easily be a malicious worm.What is the potential risk?
The researchers at PureHacking and the developers at Skype seem to disagree on the scope of the threat. PureHacking claims to have developed a proof-of-concept exploit that allows the attacker to take complete control of the vulnerable Mac system, and states that the flaw is easily wormable and extremely dangerous.

Skype's seems to believe the threat is much more limited. Skype explains that a message from a malicious contact could cause the Skype for Mac software to crash, and stresses that default privacy settings in Skype restrict the impact because you can only received messages from your authorized list of contacts.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/227382/skypes_dangerous_exploit_what_you_need_to_know.html

... for once...;)

CentIPad, anyone?

:evilgrin:

I am 45 and having been using Mac for 20 years. I am a business owner and well-known in my field.

I tried a PC for a couple of years and was very disenchanted with the interface and the need to constantly scan for viruses.

Why does using an easier-to-use product make one a "fanboy"?

The article is from, hmmmm....

PCWorld!

(I love your posts, TSS, just had to chime in on this one.)

:hi:

So these guys found a way Macs could be exploited...if they are using Skype. In the meantime, while the non-existent worm is not propagating wildly across the Mac univers, a security update will be issued. Yawn. Once again.