Number Of Flashback Infected Macs Drops To 30,000, Threat Of More Malware On The Rise

By

We may start seeing more viruses make their way to the Mac.
We may start seeing more viruses make their way to the Mac.

The Flashback trojan has been making the news after it was discovered that 600,000 Macs had been infected with the malware. Apple released security patches to combat the update, and a recent update from Norton Symantec indicated that the number of infected Macs dropped to 140,000 4 days later.

Now another statement from Russian security firm Kaspersky reveals that the number of infected Macs has plummeted to 30,000. According to Kaspersky, Mac users should start being more wary of malware when surfing the web.

Kaspersky also offered a tool to the public for detecting Flashback on infected Macs when the threat was initially making headlines.

Interestingly, Kaspersky says that Flashback spread by mainly hijacking WordPress sites and exploiting a vulnerability in the blogging platform’s software infrastructure. So instead of only getting the trojan after visiting a shady website, Mac users could have been infected by seemingly-legitimate WordPress sites.

Symantec said that 140,000 Macs were still infected as of Tuesday, so Kaspersky’s numbers show quite the dip, assuming the data is accurate from both sources. Whatever the case, the threat of Flashback is fading rapidly.

Ars Technica reports:

“Market share brings attacker motivation,” the firm told members of the press in its presentation. “Expect more drive-by downloads, more Mac OS X mass-malware. Expect cross-platform exploit kits with Mac-specific exploits.”

The introduction of Gatekeeper in OS X Mountain Lion should help to deter the threat of malware for Mac users. But as Apple’s market share in the desktop PC space grows, attackers will see an even greater opportunity to create viruses for OS X. The age of innocence for the Mac may soon be drawing to an end.

[image via Macgasm]

Newsletters

Daily round-ups or a weekly refresher, straight from Cult of Mac to your inbox.

  • The Weekender

    The week's best Apple news, reviews and how-tos from Cult of Mac, every Saturday morning. Our readers say: "Thank you guys for always posting cool stuff" -- Vaughn Nevins. "Very informative" -- Kenly Xavier.