After Flashback, the Macs Aura of Invulnerability Is Gone Forever
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5. Its scary
Make no mistake: Flashback is one scary Trojan. The payload injects itself into Mac OS X and tries to gain administrator privilege by duping people into believing the Adobe Flash Player needs to be updated. Along the way, it steals usernames and passwords for the many sites a person visits. Its an extremely insidious Trojan.
6. The malware creators arent backing down
According to security researchers, new variants of the Flashback Trojan keep cropping up on the Web, seeming to indicate that the malwares authors arent willing to back down just yet. With that in mind, Apple says that its working with international ISPs to take down the servers that are hosting the malware, but until then, dont expect Flashback to go away anytime soon.
7. Apple has been criticized for a slow response
Apple has come in the crosshairs of many security researchers and advocates who say that the company might have acted somewhat slowly to the outbreak. Flashback was known for weeks before it became a big news story. Only after that happened did Apple release its patch. Granted, that might have been a coincidence and the company might have been working on a fix for some time, but the timing didnt look right.
8. It speaks of more trouble to come
Although Flashback could be worse, it indicates that Mac OS X isnt nearly as successful at stopping Trojans as previously believed. The operating system is certainly secure and one might argue it has more safeguards in place than Windows, but to believe that more trouble wont be coming after Flashback would be a mistake.
9. Security firms were behind
Unfortunately, security firms just arent up to par when it comes to handling Mac OS X security threats. In the case of Flashback, for example, security firms didnt initially respond to the threat with some semblance of a solution for a couple days, allowing the Trojan to spread and work unchecked during that time. That said, its important to note that users havent really safeguarded themselves, so they must share the blame.
10. Stopping Java use in the browser will help
Finally, keep in mind that since Java is the issue with Flashback, it can be controlled by eliminating Java use in the browser. Granted, it might not be the most convenient or worthwhile solution, but its the safest solution for now. All major browsers advise users to turn off Java.
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