Flashback Trojan infects more than half a million Macs

Dr. Web, a Russian anti-virus firm, reports that more than 600,000 Apple computers or Macs were infected by malware known as the Flashback Trojan. Most of the Macs that were infected are in the US. Of the ones infected in the US, 274 are located in Cupertino, California where Apple’s headquarters is situated.

What the Flashback Trojan does is it deactivates security software of the infected Mac, allowing it to be be hijacked and potentially be controlled remotely by intruders and hackers. The Trojan is also capable of exploiting vulnerabilities in the Java programming code; in doing so Flashback can install itself from fake and bogus sites without permission from the user.

The Flashback Trojan was first detected in September of 2011, posing as an update for Flash Player. Oracle, creator of Java, released a security fix for the Trojan last February 14. Apple has also released its own security fix for Flashback – only last Wednesday – eight weeks later. By then, there was already a malware outbreak on Mac computers.

Apple has yet to release a statement  regarding the outbreak of the Flashback Trojan. This puts a damp on the reputation of Mac computers for invulnerability. They can and will be hacked again in the future.

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