Edible Apple

For years, one of the chief selling points of the Mac compared to the PC is that the former was much less prone to malware. And while that still may hold true, the growing popularity of the Mac, coupled with the Mac communities general laissez-faire attitude regarding malware, the times they are a changin’.

The Mac is becoming a more popular target for malware authors, a fact clearly evidenced by the recent Flashback malware which has reportedly infected more than 600,000 Macs. Flashback works to steal personal information, so it’s not exactly something to ignore.

To combat the malware, which takes advantage of a vulnerability in Java, Apple last week issued two software updates in order to patch the security hole.

But what about if you’re already infected?

Well in that case, Mac user Juan Leon has put together an app which can quickly check and see if a particular machine is infected with the Flashback trojan.

The downloadable app runs the same three Terminal commands that we outlined in our how-to last week—it either says “No signs of infection were found” or spits back further information if necessary. There is also a link to F-Secure’s instructions for removal, but if you have less-technical family members whose Macs are infected, you’ll likely need to step in and help before they have to start mucking with the Terminal.

And if you are infected and want to remove the malware from your system, F-Secure has instructions in that regard over here.

via Ars Technica