Mac Firmware Virus Creators Hired By Apple

Abraham Lincoln had a very great idea when it comes to enemies – he insists that if one were to be able to win an enemy over, he would not only have “killed” the enemy in the process, but also gain a friend in the process. I suppose this is what Apple was thinking about when the company hired a couple of security researchers who worked on viruses that targeted Mac computers in the past. What better way to beef up the security of your products, now and in the future, than getting the best brains who know the most about your stuff, right?

LegbaCore founder Xeno Kovah shared over on Twitter last November that he and his partner, Corey Kellenberg, were given the task of “low level security” by Apple, and this move was generally low key until another security researcher revealed it a month afterwards at a security conference presentation.

LegbaCore’s claim to fame would be the proof-of-concept virus-worm hybrid known as Thunderstrike 2 which had Mac computers in its crosshairs. The worm that Kovah came up with had the ability to spread from one MacBook to another, without having those computers hooked up to the internet. Thankfully, Kovah and his team informed Apple of the vulnerabilities, and these have been patched up since. Looks like the Mac platform is going to be more secure than ever before from the threats of malware and firmware modification.

Edwin Kee
Categories: Apple, Computers
Tags: Hacking, Mac (Apple)