Apple laptops are at risk of a virus called Thunderstrike and the bad news is that it is irremovable.

Some security expert when it comes to computers, discovered a way to install malicious code using a tiny chip that is found in Apple laptops. This code cannot be removed even if the owner replaces the whole hard disk inside.

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Allthough Thunderstrike is virtually undetectable, and there isn't yet any security software to detect it yet, it's not easy to infect someone's computer. It requires the hacker to have the computer in his or her physical possession, and cannot be delivered via the Internet or email.

According to Trammell Hudson, who works for New York hedge fund Two Sigma Investments, finding out about the Thunderstrike virus happened when his employer asked him to check the security system surrounding Apple laptops.

He said during the 31C3 conference, he and his company were thinking of deploying MacBooks until he was asked to use his experience involving reverse engineering and look into the reports of rootkits on the Mac.

He first dismantled one of the laptops to be able to boot the ROM, it is a tiny chip that contains the code for the computer to start running, before the main operating system (OS) can function. The virus can be embedded in the ROM and unlike any normal malware that lives on the hard disk, this one cannot be deleted. The whole process is called a bootkit attack.  

This virus can do anything that the hacker wants on the computer, from stalking the owner of the laptop to releasing sensitive information from the machine. Hudson stated that Apple is currently working on a partial fix for this issue.

TagsMac, Laptop, thunderstrike, mac virus, Malware, mac malware