14 DAY TRIAL // The first iteration of Apple’s official Flashback Malware Removal Tool is out for OS X 10.7 Lion users. The tool is a 356 KB download and Apple recommends it to everyone running Lion without Java installed.
A technical note on Apple’s Support site details the contents of Flashback malware removal tool stating “This Flashback malware removal tool […] will remove the most common variants of the Flashback malware.”
The Mac maker explains that, “If the Flashback malware is found, a dialog will be presented notifying the user that malware was removed.”
“In some cases, the Flashback malware removal tool may need to restart your computer in order to completely remove the Flashback malware.”
“This update is recommended for all OS X Lion users without Java installed,” Apple concludes.
The Flashback Trojan (and its many variants) has been the biggest malware threat ever, as far as Macintosh computers are concerned.
Initially discovered by security software vendors months ago, and subsequently patched by these companies way ahead of Apple, the malware originally disguised itself as an Adobe Flash installer (hence its name).
Since then, multiple variants of the Trojan have emerged, all of which can be killed with Apple’s Flashback malware removal tool, according to the Cupertino, California-based computer giant.
Flashback Malware Removal Tool 1.0 should be the first of many iterations to come, as cyber-criminals are beginning to eye Mac OS X as a profitable platform to hack.
While the Mac has been virus-free for most of its existence, this can no longer be said about Apple’s computers, as the platform gains more and more market-share with each passing year.
Because of this, some of Apple’s ads in the old “Get a Mac” campaign are starting to look ridiculous now (embedded below). Apple likely foresaw this when they ended the campaign.
