Mac Security Firm Laughs at Microsoft Over Backdoor Olyx ‘Discovery’

The Texas, Austin based Intego have recently made a new blog entry to highlight a poor attempt on behalf of Microsoft to warn Mac users of a potential security threat targeting Mac OS X.

While Microsoft’s ‘discovery’ and blog post are well intended, Intego maintains that the Windows maker is naive in reporting on this piece of malware.

“Microsoft’s Malware Protection Center has posted an article about a new Mac backdoor called Olyx that they have ‘discovered’ in a package also containing Windows malware,” the people at Intego write in a blog post of their own.

In what can be regarded as a low blow in the security industry, Intego brags about finding its way ahead of the Redmond software giant saying it had “spotted this backdoor some time ago, and added it to VirusBarrier’s malware definitions on June 30, as OSX Backdoor OSX/Olyx.A.”

“There is little threat to this malware, as it is not found in the wild in any form that can be installed on Macs,” Intego upholds.

The security firm claims that “[it] regularly finds malware of this type, which is neither well designed, nor able to be easily installed on Macs.”

“Intego’s Virus Monitoring Center adds this malware to its malware definitions, ensuring that Mac users are protected in case such malware does get added to effective payload, such as the MacDefender fake antivirus or other Trojan horses,” Intego adds.

The Mac security expert concludes, saying “We don’t publicize such malware by issuing security alerts, because the threat is not serious enough.”

In other words, Intego is pointing fingers at Microsoft for misleading readers of their blog post.

However, what Intego doesn’t mention is the actual purpose of Microsoft’s security-centric blog post.

While their discovery may be old, the author makes a good point in saying that “a threat that appears limited and specific to its target raises interesting questions about whether this threat is on a mission.”