Half a million Mac computers 'infected with malware'

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tvninja

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#100268 6-Apr-2012 14:17

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17623422

http://news.drweb.com/show/?i=2341&lng=en&c=14

Behodar

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#606119 6-Apr-2012 14:26

Alternative title: Half a million people click "yes, of course!" when prompted with a random "are you sure you want to install this?" message...

freitasm

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#606125 6-Apr-2012 14:44

Malware developers are just going for the weakest link. The OS can be The Best Thing in The World (TM) and some idiot will install any free software they see in front of them. Or if a page says "To see this movie of [popstar] naked having sex you must install our video player. Please click YES when prompted"...

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josephhinvest

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#606145 6-Apr-2012 16:01

Yep the number of horrible toolbars I see installed on less savvy Mac users browsers... People really do just click Yes when confronteded by a dialog box.

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Oldhat

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#606302 7-Apr-2012 01:13

Arstechnica has a good article about this that mentions that it is actually caused by a Java exploit. Apple have just released the update in the last couple of days. It seems it to be primarily 10.6 and earlier.

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

The article refers everyone to http://www.f-secure.com/v-descs/trojan-downloader_osx_flashback_i.shtml for a quick way to check if your computer has been infected.

merve0o0

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#613638 23-Apr-2012 13:21

I read that when it asks if you want it install if you say yes it installs in he application folder and if you say no it installs in the user folder

steveh8459

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#620743 7-May-2012 06:10

Most mac users still think they can't get virus' or malware......

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ChevronX

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#620752 7-May-2012 07:42

steveh8459: Most mac users still think they can't get virus' or malware......

Yep and it's a downfall, especially when people buy Mac's under the impression that it is 100% untouchable from Spyware/Viruses. The fact that OSX people generally think they are untouchable mean they are more likely to click Install! "It won't happen to me" syndrome.

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