[real-eyes] Re: Half a million Mac computers 'infected with malware'
- From: "R. E. Driscoll Sr" <llocsirdsr@xxxxxxx>
- To: real-eyes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 08 Apr 2012 13:17:23 -0500
The following reference is reported to provide a method for the
detection of and removal of the malware reported
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20120405/mac-trojan-virus-120405
On 4/8/2012 10:46 AM, blindbites wrote:
> The following is from
> http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17623422?print=true
> Please go there for any related links mentioned in the article.
> Steve
>
> BBC News
> TECHNOLOGY
> 5 April 2012 Last updated at 08:54 ET
> Half a million Mac computers 'infected with malware'
> More than half a million Apple computers have been infected with the
> Flashback Trojan,
> according to a Russian anti-virus firm.
> Its report
> claims that about 600,000 Macs have installed the malware -
> potentially allowing
> them to be hijacked and used as a "botnet".
> The firm, Dr Web, says that more than half that number are based in the US.
> Apple has released a security update, but users who have not installed
> the patch
> remain exposed.
> Flashback was first detected last September when anti-virus researchers
> flagged up
> software masquerading itself as a Flash Player update. Once downloaded
> it deactivated
> some of the computer's security software.
> Later versions of the malware exploited weaknesses in the Java
> programming language
> to allow the code to be installed from bogus sites without the user's
> permission.
> Remote control
> Dr Web said that once the Trojan was installed it sent a message to the
> intruder's
> control server with a unique ID to identify the infected machine.
> "By introducing the code criminals are potentially able to control the
> machine,"
> the firm's chief executive Boris Sharov told the BBC.
> "We stress the word potential as we have never seen any malicious
> activity since
> we hijacked the botnet to take it out of criminals' hands. However, we
> know people
> create viruses to get money.
> "The largest amounts of bots - based on the IP addresses we identified -
> are in the
> US, Canada, UK and Australia, so it appears to have targeted
> English-speaking people."
> Dr Web also notes that 274 of the infected computers it detected
> appeared to be located
> in Cupertino, California - home to Apple's headquarters.
> Update wait
> Java's developer, Oracle,
> issued a fix to the vulnerability on 14 February
> , but this did not work on Macintoshes as Apple manages Java updates to
> its computers.
> Apple released its own
> "security update"
> on Wednesday - more than eight weeks later. It can be triggered by
> clicking on the
> software update icon in the computer's system preferences panel.
> The security firm F-Secure has also posted detailed instructions about
> how to confirm if a machine is infected
> and how to remove the Trojan.
> Although Apple's system software limits the actions its computers can
> take without
> requesting their users' permission, some security analysts suggest this
> latest incident
> highlights the fact that the machines are not invulnerable.
> "People used to say that Apple computers, unlike Windows PCs, can't ever
> be infected
> - but it's a myth," said Timur Tsoriev, an analyst at Kaspersky Lab.
> Apple could not provide a statement at this time.
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>
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