Second Life mugging problem for Macs

A newly discovered bug means the streets of Second Life are now as treacherous as those in the real world, according to a VentureBeat report.

A flaw in Second Life has surfaced that allows hackers to mug Mac users’ avatar of all their hard earned online money.

Apparently if your avatar decides to show off a video using Apple’s QuickTime software, a hacker avatar within a hundred virtual feet can somehow use it to take control of your avatar and steal all of its online dollars.

And in case you think it just sounds like harmless online tomfoolery, don’t forget that Linden dollars (the currency of Second Life) can be exchanged for actual dollars in the real world.

Apparently there’s not much that Second Life can do to stop the muggings happening, although they can track URLs and eject the hacker after the event. Apple says it is working to fix the flaw in QuickTime.