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Flashback MacBot now just 270,000 Macs, Symantec

News
Apr 12, 20121 min
AppleData and Information SecurityMacOS

MacBot has declined from 380,000 Macs to 270,000 in the previous 24 hours

The Flashback MacBot has shrunk from a claimed 600,000 infected Macs on 5 April to 270,000 on 11 April. Symantec reported on 11 April that the MacBot has declined from 380,000 Macs to 270,000 in the previous 24 hours.

Flashback relies on a vulnerability in Java which Apple patched on 4 April. It was first identified by security firm Intego last year. Apple is now developing software to remove Flashback malware, but it has been criticised for its slow response to the three-month-old Flashback security breach.

Originally, Flashback masqueraded as an installer for Adobe’s Flash Player – hence the name – but the malware has changed tacks recently, pretending to be a Mac software update or a Java updater.

Apple’s update patches multiple vulnerabilities in Java 1.6.0_29 – including some that could allow malicious code to run on your Mac outside of the Java sandbox, triggered merely by your visiting a webpage containing a nefarious code.

karen_haslam

Macworld U.K. editor since 2008, Karen has worked on both sides of the Apple divide, clocking up a number of years at Apple's PR agency prior to joining Macworld U.K. Career highlights include launching the iPod and OS X while on the PR side, and honing news hound instincts while observing the astronomical rise of Apple following the Intel switch and the launch of the iPhone.

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