Two trojan horse pieces of software have been found recently that may put a Apple Mac OS X user's computer at risk. One in particular is of concern and has resulted in a number of security sites such as SecureMac and Sophos, Inc. to issue notices to users to be aware of this malicious software.

One work around until Apple releases a security update is for a user to start up the Terminal.app program located on all Mac's and issue the following command:

sudo chmod -s /System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/MacOS/ARDAgent

This command should not contain any line breaks. Once the command is entered the user is asked for their password. This command disables the Remote Desktop Agent on the Mac so that the Trojan cannot gain access to sensitive data. As always, never download and install any software from the internet that is not from a known trusted site.

Please contact the Technology Services Help Desk with any questions at 828-2227.