Edible Apple

In light of the Flashback malware that has infected more than 600,000 Mac users, Apple has issued two security updates to patch the Java vulnerability that lies at the root of the malware.

On top of that, Apple wrote on its website that it’s also developing software that will scan a user’s computer and remove the malware if found.

Yesterday, Apple issued the following support document

Apple released a Java update on April 3, 2012 that fixes the Java security flaw for systems running OS X v10.7 and Mac OS X v10.6. By default, your Mac automatically checks for software updates every week, but you can change that setting in Software Update preferences. You can also run Software Update at any time to manually check for the latest updates.

Apple is developing software that will detect and remove the Flashback malware.

In addition to the Java vulnerability, the Flashback malware relies on computer servers hosted by the malware authors to perform many of its critical functions. Apple is working with ISPs worldwide to disable this command and control network.

There’s no timeline as to when the tool will be released, but we’ll keep you posted.