MacBooks Infected By Malware From Popular DVD Ripping Service HandBrake

It seems nothing is safe from hackers anymore, with users of the popular software HandBrake having their Macs infected with malware. To be clear, the provider of the software itself is not responsible for the malware, which is reported to have stolen personal user information. Hackers simply hijacked a download server, which was quite effective in spreading the malicious program.

The new digital vulnerability was only discovered this weekend, which involved a download portal containing a version of the HandBrake DVD ripping software that also came with a program known as Portal, Ars Technica reports. According to the report that was released by security experts on Monday, the malware was infecting users over a period of four days before it was it was stopped on Saturday.

Among the information that the malware is stealing from the infected devices include password keychains and password vaults, along with the master key that could unlock the encryption of the data. What made the infection particularly disturbing is that of the 55 most popular anti-virus software available in the market, none could detect the presence of the malware in the Macs.

According to the warnings that the team over at HandBrake sent out, the download server in question is download.handbrake.fr, which is one out of two servers they are using for downloads. Once clients get the software from this portal, there is a 50 percent chance of getting the version with the malware, PC World reports.

HandBreak already provided instructions on how the infected software can be removed from Macs on its forum along with the warning. Unfortunately, there’s no concrete way to determine if the sensitive information on the units were already stolen. As such, the safest option for those who suspect that their machines might have been compromised is to change relevant passwords and follow the instructions on uninstalling HandBreak.