Check If Your Mac Is Infected With Flashback Virus

Think your Mac is safe from viruses? Think again.

Dr. Web, a Russian antivirus company, announced that a virus called “Flashback” has infected more than 600,000 Apple computers. 56% of those Macs are in the United States.

The Mac virus is said to be able to do serious damage to the Mac operating system. Once installed, it can find personal information, such as usernames and passwords, that are stored on your computer.

According to Dr. Web, there are very few symptoms of Flashback — unless you know exactly what you’re looking for in your firewall logs. Dr. Web also says that the number of infected Macs is on the rise; and it is nearly impossible to avoid contracting the virus.

The site, Mashable, came up with two AppleScripts that will check if your Mac is infected. These files run commands and will let you know know if your Mac is infected with the Flashback trojan.

Click here to download the scripts. After unzipping, double-click on ?trojan-check? and ?trojan-check-2.? You need to run both files because each one checks a different area of your hard drive.

If you get a response stating that what you ran “does not exist,” you’re in the clear. If you receive any other response, follow these instructions to remove the malware or contact a Mac support representative.

To block your Mac from ever contracting this virus, download Apple’s newest software update. The update will repair your Mac’s previous vulnerability to Flashback. To get the update, click the Apple logo in the top left corner of your desktop and select “software update.”