Apple is now officially part of the malware scene. After releasing an OS X update to fight the MacDefender malware issue, the authors of MacDefender released a newer version of the malware, beating Apple’s new defences within just 8 hours of the OS X Security update 2011-003 being released.
The Malware, now going by the name of Mdinstall.pkg, will prompt an install without requiring an admin password. Apple’s update blocked the original .pkg, prompting the user to move the file to the trash. However, the newer version bypasses Apple’s security, and this prompt no longer happens.
Now it is a common thing for virus authors and security experts to play the game of cat and mouse with each other, but it is not a common thing with Apple. It remains to be seen how well Apple is going to cope with the MacDefender infection, but we expect Apple to release another software patch soon.