Apple has released another Flashback malware removal tool—this time for OS X Lion users who do not have Java installed. At the moment, Apple doesn't offer a similar stand-alone tool for earlier versions of the OS.
Earlier this week Apple acknowledged the presence of malware being spread by a Java vulnerability through Mac computers, although earlier versions of the malware have infected Macs before this year's breach. After an estimated 600,000 Apple computers were infected, the company released a Java update that patched vulnerabilities in the software and came with a Flashback removal script which checked for the most common varieties of the Flashback malware and removed it.
Third-party security companies have released tools to check your computer for Flashback malware and remove it, but this new tool is official from Apple.
As the new tool is meant for OS X Lion users without Java, the utility obviously doesn't come with any Java updates. "If the Flashback malware is found, a dialog will be presented notifying the user that malware was removed," Apple's tool summary says, "In some cases, the Flashback malware removal tool may need to restart your computer in order to completely remove the Flashback malware." Topher Kessler of CNet suggests that this stand-alone utility was made to address, "earlier variants of the malware that these users might have encountered."
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