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Apple Updates Java To Include Flashback Removal
Fluffeh writes "In the third update to Java that Apple has released this week, the update now identifies and removes the most common variants of the Flashback malware that has infected over half a million Apple machines. 'This Java security update removes the most common variants of the Flashback malware,' Apple wrote in the support document for the update. 'This update also configures the Java web plug-in to disable the automatic execution of Java applets. Users may re-enable automatic execution of Java applets using the Java Preferences application. If the Java web plug-in detects that no applets have been run for an extended period of time it will again disable Java applets.'"
Macs don't get viruses!
Almost no computer gets viruses anymore. Trojans & malware on the other hand...
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
...I was wondering why the art department at work and the guy who makes my coffee was pissed.
So to fix the problem, they say lets disable java by default. They are new to the security game.
Lets say using adobe photoshop had a vulnerability, apple's defense is disable the running of photoshop when launching a ps file withotut prompting?
It's like preventing your child walking without your permission every time and then when their grown up and able to make their own decisions and decide to walk, you say, oh you have not walked in a while, you can't walk again.
apple's "security through scarcity" is starting to fade away as they gain marketshare. any popular OS will get viruses, malware, trojans, etc.
will mac os get a stonger walled garden as a result? i hope not as i was about to buy my first mac.
Except for Macs running Leopard or earlier of course. Those will probably never be patched.
Most of the problems have been related to people installing software from the internet manually and things like Java. I'm not saying anything pro or con about Apple I own both Mac and Windows machines so I have no horse in this race. Like Linux the core OS is pretty sound I just wish Microsoft had bitten the bullet and made the leap when they did the Vista overhaul. It was a pretty brave move for Apple at the time to switch the OS and it paid off in the long run. Add ons like Java are always going to be a source of headaches. All I know is I rarely have trouble with my Macs but the PCs are another story. One of mine I had to surrender for internet use because it got nailed by a redirect and I tried everything and short of redoing the OS there was no way to scrub it out. I find it safer to use Mac for web surfing and downloading things like software and I use a lot of licensed photos in my work. It's just my personal experience that I run into far fewer issues with the Macs.
NOAA satellite loops are, unfortunately, done in Java and were last updated sometime before half of Slashdot's current user base were born.
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
When this debarcle started, I mis-parsed an article heading and was worried Apple was trying to erradicate Flashblock, and had grave fears for the web.
"Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
NOAA has actually migrated away from Java.........to Flash. (no, not kidding.) That's bureaucracy for you.
They're trying to prevent malware by installing their own malware.
It is absolutely right to disable Java by default. Even the behaviour of disabling it if not used for a while COULD have been a useful feature IF they turned that behaviour on by default then provided an option to disable it. By taking it out of the user's hands they're just playing nanny. But like any nanny stuck in an office many years and many miles away they can't anticipate the needs of their entire userbase very well. They have just made it a pain for any user to use Java in a browser on their platform. No one needs a computer that decides not to obey settings the user had set (no matter how long ago). Think of what would happen if every setting on your computer set to defaults every week or two.
I can think of ways around this that don't require any technical savvy. Put a local Java applet in as your homepage for instance. But this is clunky. You should be able to say "no I really do know better" and turn on Java.
This is the problem when applying the principle of least privilege. It is also the principle of least innovation and the principle of most annoyance. The bottom line is no one needs access to a computer just to live and breath. Least privilege is oxygen, water, basic food. Wouldn't be much of a fun life.
It's also slow as fuck and pisses me off every time I have to log into my account, but it's an unescapable evil.
Within a day of the attack being announced various security blogs (and then Ars Technica) were posting directions for finding if you were infected. Each of those assumed that you'd left Safari and Firefox (and any other browser you might have been using) in the Applications folder. Since I get pissed off wading through jumbled, alphabetical lists of totally different programs, I organise my Applications folder into sub-folders. While I can go and check the programs myself from the command line, from my own experience talking even with other scientists let alone my parents, many others won't be able to do so... but might have the know-how to rearrange their Applications folder.
Does anyone know whether Apple actually search through the installed directories of browers, or just default locations?
Oh, you're one of those users that takes it upon themselves to "organize" their Apps folder. You make your Mac support people cry and die a little bit inside.
Don't know who modded this offtopic but the number of infected machines seems germane to the discussion. And AC's correct that the infection rate was dropping rapidly even before this tool hit :
"The number of Macs infected by the Flashback malware has gone down by more than half, from 550,000 to 600,000 computers last week to 270,000 in the last 24 hours, Symantec said Wednesday."
Now whether this is because of an overestimation of the original infection or due to the Apple community being energized and taking action (or a combination of the two) is up for discussion.
If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error.
But... I don't *have* any Mac support people! Maybe I should go and get some - I'd hate to disappoint them.
Obviously I could, and probably should, have done this, I agree. In future I think I actually will. It was just a lot quicker to quickly drag and drop things around in Finder than to make a load of links - well, by "a lot" I mean "marginally", but it was quicker. It also didn't occur to me that Apple might occasionally need to patch or scan application folders and might assume a set location...
Pity you posted AC, any of those reading this with mod points should probably give you a few.