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Security experts have warned Mac users about the emergence of a new worm that "represents a huge security headache".
The worm, known as Renepo or Opener, disables the Mac OS X's built-in firewall and installs hacker tools to steal personal information.
It is unusual for Mac users to be affected by virus outbreaks - most virus writers and hackers tend to focus on creating malicious code for the Microsoft Windows platform.
Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos, said: "Mac users are less likely to be infected by a virus than their PC friends and colleagues, but they are still at risk of being infected by a Mac-specific virus and affected by the most virulent kind of PC virus - the email-aware worm."
"Mac users shouldn't think it's okay to lie back on their laurels and not worry about viruses - they do exist for Mac computers, and do infect systems on a daily basis. It just doesn't seem to be as large a problem as on PCs."
According to Sophos, the Renepo worm "makes so many security-related changes to your systems that all bets are off once you have been compromised".
It will turn off the OS X firewall and other security software, download and install hacker tools for password sniffing, make key system directories world-writeable and will create an admin-level user for later system abuse.
"Because the worm attempts to harvest user, configuration and password data for a wide range of applications, it represents a huge security headache rolled into a single shell script," said Cluely.
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