Monday, April 9

Mac Trojan: Flashback info

In case anyone comes to the desk asking about the new known Mac trojan Flashback, there's a great article here from Macworld. It's pretty short, but here's the part about prevention:

Disable Java in Safari and other Web browsers. Unlike Flash, you rarely need it these days. Again, in Safari, go to Preferences -> Security -> Web Content and uncheck Enable Java. The folks at TidBITS posted instructions and screenshots for doing the same in Chrome and Firefox.
Uninstall Flash and use Google Chrome as your browser. Google Chrome includes an embedded, sandboxed version of Flash that reduces the chances an attacker can infect your system. Download the Flash uninstaller, then install Google Chrome.
If you don’t need Java at all, disable it. The Java Preferences utility is in /Applications/Utilities; uncheck the boxes next to the versions listed in the General tab. Be careful, though: Some programs such as CrashPlan (which I use) require it. But there aren’t many apps like that on the Mac market anymore.

I recommend reading the entire thing just to know what it is and how to fix it in case users ask.

1 comment:

  1. Gideon, thanks for posting. This is incredibly helpful, and I will be following the article's advice to make sure my Mac isn't vulnerable.

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