OSX.BadWord

The OSX.BadWord threat is an OSX compatible malware. This threat appears to be used as a means of the attackers to plant additional malware on the infected host mainly. One of the additional payloads that the OSX.BadWord threat is known to introduce is the Meterpreter penetration testing tool. This is an analytical tool that is meant to be used for the betterment and enhancement of security systems. However, cyber crooks often misappropriate tools like the Meterpreter penetration testing tool to carry out harmful operations.

The OSX.BadWord appears to be propagated via bogus Microsoft Word documents. The fake document file would try to trick users into enabling macro scripts. The users will be told that unless they enable macros, they will not be able to view the contents of the document. This is a very commonly propagation method utilized by countless cyber crooks. The macro-scripts would attempt to exploit known vulnerabilities in the Microsoft Office service. As soon as the threat manages to infiltrate the targeted host successfully, the OSX.BadWord threat would give the Meterpreter persistence. This would allow the operators of the OSX.BadWord malware to plant additional threats on the compromised host or alter the settings of the system without the knowledge of the user.

Users need to be more than careful when opening emails from unknown sources. Cybercriminals use a variety of social engineering techniques to mislead users into clicking on corrupted links or opening unsafe attachments. Do not forget to protect your Mac with a genuine anti-malware suite.