Apple Pushes Software Update to Finally Fix Flashback Trojan Vulnerabilities on Mac [Recommended]

Author: Patrick on April 13, 2012

Mac users have been threatened with a new Flashback Trojan for the past few weeks. Various third party apps have been provided in order to diagnose and remove the trojan from infected systems. Infecting over 600,000 Macs, it is clear that Apple is not about to turn a blind eye on this particular threat. And lo and behold, Apple has just pushed out an update for the OS X that aims to once and for all fix Flashback Trojan vulnerabilities.



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Apple Releases Java Update 2012-003 to Remove Flashback Trojan

For the third time in two weeks Apple has released an update to Java for Mac to combat the Flashback Trojan that has infected millions of Macs around the world.  The latest update, 2012-003 was release just a bit ago and is available via Software Update.

The 66MB update removes “most common variants of the Flashback malware” and also disables automatic execution of

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Apple cures Flashback malware with third OS X Java update

11160(1)10updated 05:10 pm EDT, Thu April 12, 2012 Java for OS X 2012-003 update pulls Flashback

Apple fulfilled promises of a cure for a rare Mac exploit on Thursday evening by posting another key Java update. Java for OS X 2012-003 for Lion owners, and Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 8, both actively remove the "most common variants" of Flashback. Loading the update automatically scans for Flashback and, if it's found, lets the user know that it was pulled.On Lion only, the update will disable the Java browser and Java Web Start if they haven't been used in 35 days. Users can always reenable them, but the code now won't run by default, preventing users from auto-infecting themselves with any Java-related exploits.

Flashback was the first real large-scale Mac malware instance. Although specific to Java and not the Mac, 98 percent of the infections were Macs, owing in part to a slower patch response. Apple has been making up for lost time by first patching against the exploit and the new removal tool, but it contrasts with Microsoft's semi-rigid "patch Tuesday" practice, where it often fixes any security bugs on a regular monthly interval and often has fixes for surprise attacks within a few days. For Microsoft, however, the faster update cycle came only after a series of major malware outbreaks and having to heavily rework Windows security.

Flashback itself was rendered inert fairly quickly by directing any successful exploits to safe servers.

By Electronista Staff

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Briefly: Norton's Flashback tool, FileMaker Go 12 hits 100K

04updated 11:20 am EDT, Fri April 13, 2012 FileMaker Go 12 passes 100,000 downloads

In response to the threat of the Flashback trojan, Norton has launched a free scan-and-removal tool. The utility follows remedies from both Kaspersky Labs and Apple, both which released their removal tools earlier this week. Apple's solution, which was released via Software Update, consisted of a Java update that was said to find and remove the "most common variants" of the trojan. The free utility weighs in at 0.6MB and can be downloaded from Norton's website.FileMaker Go 12 passes 100,000 downloads in one week

FileMaker has announced that FileMaker Go 12 for iPad and iPhone have been downloaded more than 100,000 times in their first week. Both apps are available for free in the App Store, and provide access to databases created by FileMaker 12. The latest update added proper multitasking support, allowing users to resume work after switching between different apps. Support for recording audio and video directly to a container field was also added, along with matching native media playback.

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Forum roundup: Flashback Trojan still prevalent?

01200updated 02:45 pm EDT, Fri April 13, 2012 Current forum topics

Yesterday in the MacNN forums Junior Member porrid asks if the Flashback Trojan is still prevalent after downloading some questionable files, read more here. Also yesterday Forum Regular wetstuff started a thread looking for ways to transfer files from 10.7 to an older computer, join in here.One Dedicated MacNNer started a discussion about Apple's best operating system after voicing their opinion about their favorite versions of OS X. This week forum members discuss unstable YouTube playback when using Safari, read more here. Forum goer idontlikelionosx started a thread earlier this week looking for some help with Preview launching very slowly.

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Kaspersky posts Flashback removal for infected Macs

31202updated 10:20 am EDT, Wed April 11, 2012 Says botnet now includes over 670,000 systems

Security firm Kaspersky Lab has released a free software utility for removing the Flashback Trojan, which has infected a number of Macs worldwide. People who think they're affected can visit the company's Flashback check website first, but the tool will conduct its own scan. Kaspersky normally refers to the Trojan under the less common term Flashfake.Recent data from the firm suggests that over 670,000 computers are infected, of which at least 98 percent are "most likely" running OS X, if not all of them. The US has about 300,917 infected systems, followed by Canada at 94,625, the UK at 47,109, and Australia at 41,600. Other affected regions -- such as France, Japan, and Germany -- have less than 8,000 infected computers each, for instance dropping down to 3,864 in the case of Japan.

Apple is known to be working on its own Flashback removal tool. The company has come under fire for being slow to react, for example waiting over a month to fix a Java vulnerability Oracle had already solved.

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