The concept of using stenography to place malware in images is not a new one, however, it can still be very effective when used properly. It is this reality that researchers have discovered in a massive campaign is currently affecting Mac users by the millions. The research was a joint effort between Confiant and Malwarebytes, according to a blog post by Confiant, and it exposed how Mac users are being exposed to Shlayer malware.

How the campaign operates is by hiding the malware in such a way that it is thought to be a Flash Player update. The Mac user clicks on the image (which is an advertisement) and is then tricked into being redirected to the download page of the Shlayer malware (shown as the Flash update). Not only does the malware itself do damage, but according to Jerome Segura of Malwarebytes, it acts as a “dropper for additional payloads, most notably Adware,” and consequently, users “may notice their machines running slower than normal and may be tricked into purchasing applications that they do not need.”

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