Mac users can now remove Flashback beyond updates

Apple late Friday followed up its anti-Flashback Java update with its own dedicated Flashback removal tool. The tool finds the "most common variants" of the exploit and will either say if it found and pulled any variant. If needed, it will ask for a full reboot to wipe the malware entirely.

The tool is intended for OS X Lion owners who didn't already have Java installed and thus can't use the Java update to scrub Flashback.

A release of a final Flashback tool doesn't necessarily get rid of every variant of Flashback, but it helps close off what many now consider the Mac's first serious security threat in its 28-year history. Although the code was relying more on a Java exploit than anything Mac-specific, the lack of a patch in a timely fashion left Macs representing 98 percent of infected systems. Apple did react quickly once the problem became conspicuous.

By Electronista Staff

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industry, security, software, Java, Apple, Lion, Flashback