Mac Flashback Trojan: A Web Based Tool To Check If You Are Infected

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Mac Flashback Trojan: A Web Based Tool To Check If You Are Infected

Mac users are facing threat by a new malware known as Flashback. This malware first spread as a fake Flash player update and then it also took advantage of a previous vulnerability in Java. According to Dr. Web malware analyst Sorokin Ivan, Flashback has spread on over 600,000 machines, with 274 bots from Cupertino and 285 bots from Finland. Sorokin Ivan posted this report on Twitter. No doubt this is really a big figure and its better to check if your Mac is free from Flashback threat.

The good guys at Dr. Web have created a web based tool which can check if your machine has been compromised by Flashback threat. This is not an online antivirus checking site, but it basically checks if there was a connection from your computer to the botnet network. This is done by checking user’s Mac UUID against the database of Dr. Web.

Head over to Dr. Web checking tool from here, enter your Hardware UUID and captcha and click on check button.

Hardware UUID is a unique number that identifies Mac. This means that all models will have a different number. To know your UUID, follow these steps:

  1. Choose About This Mac from the Apple Menu.
  2. Click More Info.
  3. Click System Report.
  4. In the left pane, select Hardware.
  5. Copy the Hardware UUID from the right pane.

After getting your UUID, copy and paste it to the online form and hit the check button. Wait for the process to finish and then you can get the results in the next step. If you’re not affected, then that’s great and you can take below preventive steps to ensure that you stay safe from this threat.

Preventive Steps to Stay Safe From Flashback

Apple has already released Java update that will patch this vulnerability. Head over to the Software Update to apply update to Java. We would also recommend users to update Lion and Snow Leopard so that they can stay safe from this threat.

If you want to take every precautionary steps possible to avoid this threat, then you can also disable Java from your browser. To do this in Safari, go to Safari menu > Preferences and then click on “Security” tab. Uncheck “Enable Java.”

Note that some websites require Java to work properly. If you disable Java, then some websites may not work correctly. If you think that your browsing experience is affected by disabling Java, then you can also enable Java from here.

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