Crisis/Morcut

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What Does Crisis/Morcut Mean?

Crisis, or Morcut, is a Trojan virus targeting both Mac and Windows computers. Reportedly, Crisis/Morcut arrives via a file by the name of "AdobeFlashPlayer.jar" and opens up a backdoor on the infected user’s system.

Techopedia Explains Crisis/Morcut

There are two confusing aspects about this malware:

  • The Trojan was first reported by security firms Intego and Sophos on July 25, 2012. Intego labeled the malware OSX/Crisis. Sophos reported it as OSX/Morcut but acknowledged the Crisis naming. Each name refers to the same malware.
  • The announcement was significant, as July 25th was the release date for the Mountain Lion operating system (OS). Despite this timing, the Trojan does not affect Mountain Lion, but, rather, OSX versions 10.6 (Snow Leopard) and 10.7 (Lion). Also, despite media attention noting the Mac connection, the Trojan reportedly affects Windows.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert

Margaret is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.

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