Pirated iWork ‘09 copies were hit with a trojan “OSX.Trojan.iServices.A” as identified by Intego, a Mac anti-virus maker. Over 100,000 known downloads of this package made its way into people’s computers.
Once the trojan is installed, it will attempt to connect to a remote server and provide the server with the infected computer’s network location. It then listens for further instructions from the remote server, which may include instructions to download additional components.
A day later SecureMac, a Mac security site, has released a free removal tool called the “iWorkServices Trojan Removal Tool.”
Personally (and this is based on thin air), I find the whole thing very suspicious. Antivirus makers for the Mac after all have a very small market, so this might be a way to spread paranoia among users. Targeting pirated media keeps them from having to blame someone for the mishap.
In any case, my advice still stands. You do not need anti-virus protection. Only enter your user ID and password when you are sure of the source. Without that no virus or trojan will cause any harm to your system. Of course, in this case, I need to add that you should always get software from authentic sources.
