Half a million Mac computers 'infected with malware'

...it's possible malware will be forthcoming. I have an HP Touchpad running both WebOS and Android 4.0, and I have Lookout Security loaded for both.

I wish I had snagged a couple TouchPads in the fifteen minutes that they were bargain-priced. I own shares of HPQ, and that debacle still nags at me.

They're selling for around $250 now for the 32GB model - I highly recommend getting one.

You can find out whether your machine is affected by opening up the Terminal application and typing:

defaults read /Applications/Safari.app/Contents/Info LSEnvironment

If you get the message “The domain/default pair of (/Applications/Safari.app/Contents/Info, LSEnvironment) does not exist”, you must then enter:

defaults read ~/.MacOSX/environment DYLD_INSERT_LIBRARIES

If you get the message ”The domain/default pair of (/Users/joe/.MacOSX/environment, DYLD_INSERT_LIBRARIES) does not exist”, then your Mac is safe. Basically, the “does not exist” message means you’re clean.

If you see anything other than those messages, you can check out F-Secure’s guide to removing the Flashback trojan.

http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2012/04/flashback-trojan-reportedly-controls-half-a-million-macs-and-counting.ars

my machine is clean.

thanks.

My machine's clean.

I found the Terminal in the Utilities folder and typed in the application and it just came up as no such file.

My laptop's clean.

Will check the desktop when I get home.

...macs have some catching up to do. No stealth rootkits?

As the Beatles sang in Penny Lane: "It's a clean machine"

by virtue of being Macs. It was just that the relatively small number of us Maccies out here weren't worth hackers' time creating viruses and malware for us.

I say this as someone who has a 2007 MacBook.

I think my next laptop I will build with my SO and put Linux on it.

Malware's name is... MacOS! Thank you! I'll be here all week.

Just kidding my Mac-loving brethren.

Thanks for sharing.

Doctor Web—the Russian anti-virus vendor. I've been using Win 7 on a PC for years now, for security I use Microsoft Security Suite which is free on their website. The software scans everything incoming and occasionally finds a virus which it quarantines and eliminates. It behooves MS to protects their users and they are serious about eliminating viruses attacking their OS. Dr. Web? Not so much.

That commercial never did it for me (the actual one, I mean). I always liked the nerdy guy better--he seemed more sincere-- and thought the MAC guy was a bit smug and unwashed!

The "music box" music was grating, as well!

It's a minor threat. You expose yourself more if you use Google products.

Macs update automatically to combat these things. Let your Mac update whenever it asks to.


Instructions:
http://www.f-secure.com/v-descs/trojan-downloader_osx_flashback_i.shtml

Macs are less secure than Windows and Google products. Its an established fact
Check post#20.

Stopped reading right there.

.

the Russian anti Virus firms are top notch. Where do you think a big Chunk of Virus coders are from? Russia. And most of them work for the Russian mafia-funded rings. Believe me when I say Russians know their stuff.

To Disparage the report cos its Russian, only serves to underscore the typical Mac-user mindset...fatally clueless about most tech issues. No offense meant..but If I were Russian, I would find your comment offensive.

My concern is always that these online "anti-virus" companies are often responsible for the malware. I'm not clueless. I switched to a Mac when they switched to Unix.

And I certainly didn't mean to denigrate the Russian people or their tech skills.

I imagine your user name prevented you from reading it...

I am suspicious of anti-virus companies' claims about these things. Before you know it, you're on their webpage, clicking something that says "Scan My Computer (It's FREE!)"

Nope. I don't type my root password in unless I know damn well what I'm installing.

But what do I know, now that a half a MILLION Macs owned by those who think they are immune to some preety slick minds are part of a botnet sending spam and crap to everyone else.....

"worth it."

I'll stick with my PCs!

I don't think Ubuntu or Linux more broadly would run into this kind of problem. Linux operating systems use centralized package management. That means that if you are using Linux, you have no need to run around the internet and download programs from untrusted websites. An Ubuntu user's programs should all be coming from one trusted source (the Debian package maintainers). Proprietary software cannot fully make use of this feature.

that a part of that reason is the perception that linux users are more tech savvy. If you want to put out a botnet, you want it to be out there long enough to use it. If you are going to bother writing the script you'd want it to work as more than just a proof of concept - you want people to spread it and you want it to last a while. Windows is a target because of the wide user base, mac now because it is low hanging fruit.

Well, technically it's only .01% of them but it's still millions of phones.

I think my Linux you mean Linux PCs?

i know its just a matter of time until viruses become a real threat to macs.
i installed sophos anti virus,a free program a few days ago

When I got my new computer, I looked around to see what kinds of downloads were recommended and Sophos came up on several lists.

So far I haven't seen it do anything, which I guess is good news....

Right?

it was an attachment to en email in my spam folder so it was no problem but the simple fact it found it is good

No virus or worms but after reading what happened I didn't want to take a chance...

"Half a million Mac computers owned by idiots who click 'yes' to bad things."

downloaded a virus protection program.

While I think there is still a much smaller risk, I think it will grow as Mac slowly but surely picks up market share.

Oh how many times have I heard the line "that Macs dont get viruses." from Mac users.

If only they knew that Mac's are as susceptable to viruses as Windows, but were only spared due to the very small marketshare they had. Virus writers wrote for the OS with the largest marketshare, Windows.

It has to be noted that the Mac OS is one of the LEAST secure OS's out there, as proven in one hacking contest after another, year after year.




and more


Researchers: Macs are less secure than Windows PCs
http://blogs.computerworld.com/researchers_macs_are_less_secure_than_windows_pcs





Sadly most Apple owners are happy to buy into the Apple cult and continue parroting the laughable claim that Mac OS is more secure than Windows! its less secure.



PS:

Furthermore Apple products are the ONLY known consumer electronics products that transmits to anyone within range the unique identifiers of the past three wireless access points the user has logged into.

This makes the iPhone and other wifi-enabled Apple devices(like laptops) the LEAST secure amongst comparable products.

Check this link

Loose-lipped iPhones top the list of smartphones exploited by hacker
http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2012/03/loose-lipped-iphones-top-the-list-of-smartphones-exploited-by-hacker.ars?clicked=related_right


Wanna see what a hacker can get from your Iphone or other Wifi Enabled Apple products? Check this pic out


(right click on image, select view image to view higher resolution version)


Everytime I hear an Apple user make the claim that "Mac is more secure than Windows" , i laugh at them...inside. The same way I laugh at evolution/global warming deniers. Both religiously believe in myths with no facts to back them up.

They have this shit down to a science. They know exactly how to get people to do what they want. They don't need an overt police state anymore, they just control the vast majority with psychological manipulation.

And that is no easy feat with a proper password and WPA2.

Otherwise, yeah, the iPhone is going to be a target. Just look at all these celebrities whose pictures have been exposed.

That's the price of allowing "outside" technologies access.

Still, saying that Macs are now as risky as PCs is a ridiculous overstatement. One successful invisible attack versus, what, thousands?

It's a known fact, albeit not amongst Mac owners.

As I understand it, a big difference is that a Windows attack can easily install itself behind the user's back, whereas the Mac will typically put up a box asking the user if it is okay to proceed and prompt him for his password. If you're not sure why you're being prompted, the smart user cancels and exits the page.

The groundbreaking aspect of this particular exploit is that it is, as far as I've seen, the first that can successfully do its dirty work without prompting the user to provide the culprit with system level access.

Lesser Skilled hackers/Virus coders create viruses/trojans/etc etc which can be caught by built in systemic checking/virus scanners/firewalls, while the good ones do things which we will not be aware till its already too late. In fact the best Viruses/Malware might be in system doing its dirty work for months/years on end without being noticed (say for example if its intent was to monitor whatever you do on your machine and report it back to its creator)

Even windows has a lot of built in checking...like the user Access Control which prompts when a change to anything is about to be made. Power users turn it off because it becomes annoying after a while. But then again pwoer users also know how to keep their machines safe.

My college professor for Computer Security class was a NSA veteran of 15 years....he pretty much knew everything there is to know about cryptography/cryptanalysis/Computer security and his comment on the first day of class was this

"Security in Obscurity is never real security"

This is a fundamental truth in the field of computer security. Before I used to take the class I believed that the most secret Crypto Algorithm must be the most secure one. However history has shown us that Publicly available Crypto Algorithms are much more safer than private/secret ones.

If an Algorithm is made public, millions of people can look at it..researchers can research it...improve it..find vulnerabilities. A secret algorithm, however good it might seem to the small group of inventors, would most probably have some loophole/bug/backdoor/exploit that the smaller(relatively) team of inventors overlooked.

Thus the most secure/safe algorithms are those which have been exposed to the public..tested and tested again for years. There is no company/country that can find resources to out-think the worldwide collective of academics/researchers/students/hackers/hobbyists.


The same applies to Mac's. Till recently Mac's were safer and didn't have viruses because those who wrote Viruses didn't want to write for such an insignificant market share. however nowadays that the Mac OS has a considerable market-share, more and more Viruses will be written for it. Given that the Mac OS is less secure than the Windows OS, they will be affected more.

Thus the old adage "security in Obscurity is never real security" applies to Mac users as well.

A good first step for Mac users will be to download some Anti Virus Software.And to follow safe browsing practices

In fact, I am aware of pretty much everything in your post. How is stereotyping Russian security firms more offensive than stereotyping Mac users?

I explicitly said "most".

However saying stuff like "I stopped reading after I read Russian" sounds very much like stereotyping.


PS: Furthermore I'm yet to see Russian companies make fun of their competitors using false advertising...remember the I'm a Mac commercials?

yep!

You know what's one of the best lines I hear from Mac users AFTER one gets through their initial "Macs dont get viruses" firewall?
"Well even if they are less secure, they are more "safe" "!




After all, no wonder...a recent study found this




I have relegated these folks to the same cultist group-segment....where they will be at ease with the evolution/global warming deniers.

No offense to a recently deceased person...but A person who lived in luxury while his own child (which he claimed it was not his...by lying in the courts that he is unable to father children) and his ex gf lived in welfare for more than a decade worthy of any praise..


and this is not even without getting into the other AH stuff he did.

There are no assholes in charge of other tech corporations, just Apple! You are so right.

Good grief...

He just said Jobs was a major asshole and that's a documented fact. Assholes abound at all companies large and small. Some folks like to pretend Jobs shit didn't stink... the facts say otherwise is all.

Well said
One does not see millions of customers put the Wall street moguls on a pedestal...and raise them to cult status. However the Apple fans do that and more.

The lack of it from Apple haters is astounding.

As expected.

The Windows removal is:

Reboot Windows in Safe Mode.
Use Dr.Web® scanner of free curing utility Dr.Web® CureIT! to scan local drives.
The “Cure” action should be applied for all infected files. (or using a anti malware vendor of your choice)
Restore registry from the backup copy.

The Mac Removal is

Select Software Update
Apply JAVA update
Reboot.

It is funny that Dr. Web is the way to remove on both windows and mac; I wonder if the good Dr. made the little beasty in the first place.

Best just update JAVA I guess. Linux may not be in their sites.

That's why it became a 'thing' on OS X, it had time to propagate. Most Windows users should be safe if they had automatic updates for Java enabled.

http://botnetchecker.com/ (Recommended by Apple Support)