Kaspersky Lab Announces ‘Kaspersky Flashfake Removal Tool,’ a Safe and Free Tool for Users to Identify and Disinfect the Mac OS X Flashback/Flashfake Malware

Abingdon, UK, 11 April 2012 - In response to the recent discovery of the Flashfake botnet, which has infected 670,000 computers worldwide, Kaspersky Lab has announced the availability of its free Kaspersky Flashfake Removal Tool. Users can check if they’re infected with Flashfake by visiting Kaspersky Lab’s safe verification site, and can remove it using the Kaspersky Flashfake Removal Tool.

Kaspersky Lab’s experts recently analysed the Flashfake botnet and found a total of 670,000 infected computers worldwide, with more than 98% of the computers most likely running Mac OS X. It is anticipated that the other 2% of machines running the Flashfake bot are very likely to be Macs as well. This is the largest Mac-based infection to date, with the largest number of victims targeting developed countries. The United States had the most infected computers (300,917) followed by Canada (94,625), the United Kingdom (47,109) and Australia (41,600). Other infected countries included France (7,891), Italy (6,585), Mexico (5,747), Spain (4,304), Germany (4,021) and Japan (3,864).

On 6 April Kaspersky Lab’s researchers reverse-engineered the Flashfake malware and registered several domain names which could be used by criminals as a Command & Control (C&C) server for managing the botnet. This method enabled them to analyse the communications between infected computers and the C&Cs. By connecting to Flashfake, Kaspersky Lab’s experts are able to continuously monitor the botnet’s communication with active bots and have published their findings here.

Throughout the Bank Holiday weekend Kaspersky Lab experts saw a decline in the number of active bots: on 6 April the total number was 650,748. At the end of 8 April, the number of active bots was 237,103. However, the rapid decrease in infected bots does not mean the botnet is shrinking at the same rate. The statistics represent the number of active bots connected to Flashfake over the weekend – it is not the equivalent of the exact number of infected machines. Infected computers that were inactive over the weekend would not have communicated with Flashfake, thus they would not have appeared as an infected bot.

Flashfake is a family of OS X malware that first appeared in September 2011. Previous variants of the malware relied on cyber criminals using social engineering techniques to trick users into downloading the malicious program and installing it in their systems. However, this latest version of Flashfake does not require any user-interaction and is installed via a “drive-by download,” which occurs when victims unwittingly visit infected websites, allowing the Trojan to be downloaded directly onto their computers through the Java vulnerabilities. Although Oracle issued a patch for this vulnerability three months ago, Apple delayed in sending a security update to its customer base until 2 April. Users who have not updated their systems with the latest security should install and update immediately to avoid infection.

“The three month delay in sending a security update was a bad decision on Apple’s part,” said Kaspersky Lab’s Chief Security Expert, Alexander Gostev. “There are a few reasons for this. First, Apple doesn’t allow Oracle to patch Java for Mac. They do it themselves, usually several months later. This means the window of exposure for Mac users is much longer than PC users. This is especially bad news since Apple’s standard AV update is a rudimentary affair which only adds new signatures when a threat is deemed large enough. Apple knew about this Java vulnerability for three months, and yet neglected to push through an update in all that time! The problem is exacerbated because – up to now – Apple has enjoyed a mythical reputation for being ‘malware free’. Too many users are unaware that their computers have been infected, or that there is a real threat to Mac security.”

Mac OS X users are advised to install the latest security updates from Apple.

Since connecting to the botnet for analysis, Kaspersky Lab’s sinkhole server has registered all the data sent by bots from the infected computers and recorded their Universally Unique Identifiers (UUIDs) in a dedicated database. Based on this information, Kaspersky Lab’s experts have created an online resource where all users of Mac OS X can check if their computer has been infected by Flashback / Flashfake.

How to determine if your computer is infected:

• Visit Kaspersky Lab’s site at www.flashbackcheck.com to determine if you’re infected.
• This dedicated site is safe for users to visit and enter their UUID, which will be checked in Kaspersky Lab’s Flashfake database of infected computers. Instructions for entering user UUIDs are included as well.

How to disinfect your computer:

If your UUID is found in our database, you need to disinfect your Mac. Here are three recommendations to do this:

1.    Use the Kaspersky Flashfake Removal Tool. It will automatically scan your system and remove Flashback if it is detected. This is a free-to-download and free-to-use program.

2.    Download a trial version of Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2011 for Mac. This program offers comprehensive protection against all known malicious programs for Mac OS X, including Flashback.

3.    Detect and remove Flashback manually. Please follow the instructions provided on the following page: www.flashbackcheck.com

For more information on the Flashfake botnet and the Flashfake Trojan, please visit ourFAQ sheet. To learn about the latest research results by Kaspersky Lab’s experts, please visit Securelist.

EaseUS Software, a leading provider of data recovery, partition manager and backup utilities, releases EaseUS Mac Photo Recovery Freeto recover intentionally or accidentally deleted photo files; even after emptying trash with original file names. Quickly rescue your Mac photos and music, free of charge.

Please learn more information at: http://www.easeus.com/mac/mac-photo-recovery-free/.

EaseUS Mac Photo Recovery Free was developed to rescue lost photos due to Mac hardware corruption, accidental deletion, formatting of Mac hard disk, misuse of memory cards and so on. Particularly designed for Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion) & 10.6 (Snow Leopard) & 10.5 (Leopard), this Mac data recovery freeware aims to recover lost multimedia files (only bmp/jpg/png/tif/mp3 files) from your Mac computer and other storage devices regardless of file systems and directly search lost files.

Key Features of EaseUS Mac Photo Recovery Free:

• Free recover digital photos, pictures and MP3 files due to accidental deletion.
• Free recover lost/formatted/damaged images and audios from Mac hard disk.
• Free recover pictures, images and audio files deleted from Trash Bin.
• Free Mac disk recovery after a hard disk crash.
• Preview lost files to specify what you can to recover.
• Perform complete recovery of photos from Mac hard disk and any other type of storage media.

“EaseUS Mac Photo Recovery Free is data recovery tool that may be able to help when it comes to photo lost/corruption due to user error, hardware failure or some other problems,” said Mark Wilson, editor from PC Tech Authority.

Pricing & Availability:

EaseUS Mac Photo Recovery Free is available at:
http://www.easeus.com/mac/mac-photo-recovery-free/

EaseUS Mac Data Recovery Wizard for $89.95 is available at:
http://www.easeus.com/mac/mac-data-recovery/

EaseUS Mac Data Recovery Wizard Technician for unlimited usage; for $399.00 is available at:
http://www.easeus.com/mac/mac-data-recovery-technician/

SecureMac.com is excited to announce the release of PrivacyScan, Privacy Protection for the Mac. The company’s first Mac App Store release, PrivacyScan is a utility designed for people who value privacy and want to keep their online and offline experiences private. SecureMac is at Macworld | iWorld 2012 in San Francisco at booth #442 showcasing PrivacyScan and their other flagship product MacScan.

Every time the webs surfed or the computers used, bits of information are left behind — information that could compromise privacy of a user. PrivacyScan provides protection against these threats by scanning the Mac for files containing sensitive information and offering multiple levels of shredding to securely erase them from the system. With PrivacyScan, safely and securely destroy these hidden threats — saving space on the system and keeping personal information from prying eyes.

PrivacyScan works by searching for known applications which leave files on the computer that could lead to privacy concerns. PrivacyScan offers support for a wide range of items, including popular web browsers such as Camino, Chrome, Firefox, Flock, iCab, OmniWeb, Opera, Safari, SeaMonkey, and Shiira, privacy threats presented by Flash Cookies, as well as standard apps such as Finder, Preview, and QuickTime. Once a scan has run its course and privacy threats have been detected, PrivacyScan offers a variety of choices for cleaning — from a standard quick delete to one of the many secure delete shredding options.

SecureMac’s president, Nicholas Raba, describes a recent experience: “Over the holidays, all of the relatives were in town. The little kids ended up sneaking onto the computer and looking up the purchase history from all of the recent online shopping, and managed to ruin the surprise by finding out what all of the presents were before they even opened them! PrivacyScan can help avoid situations like this.”

With PrivacyScan, users can rest assured that tracks remain covered, private information remains private, and deleted items stay that way. To learn more about PrivacyScan visit http://privacyscan.securemac.com/

Pricing and Availability:
PrivacyScan 1.0 is available at a introductory price of $4.99 USD (or equivalent amount in other currencies) and is available worldwide through the Mac App Store in the Utilities category. http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/privacyscan/id494950833?ls=1&mt=12

Southern Stars, the leader in astronomy applications, launched today its latest version of SkyFi, a patent-pending wireless USB telescope controller for its award-winning SkySafari app. Using SkyFi, astronomers of every stripe can harness the WiFi capabilities of their Mac, PC, iPhone, or iPod Touch to aim their telescope at the same astronomical objects they have selected in SkySafari.

“SkyFi is the only Wi-Fi device on the market specifically designed for telescope control,” said Southern Stars founder Tim DeBenedictis. “Now that telescope manufacturers like Meade and iOptron are adopting USB, we wanted to make sure SkyFi was USB-compatible. With SkyFi, our customers can use our apps to direct the latest personal telescopes on the market.”
To celebrate, SkySafari 3’s basic version, normally USD $2.99, will be free for the duration of MacWorld (Jan 26-28, 2012). The Plus and Pro versions will be on sale at prices up to 50% off.

To download SkySafari 3 from the iTunes Store click here:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/skysafari-3/id437108143?mt=8

SkySafari 3 is the only astronomy app that can correctly reproduce eclipses, transits, and many other astronomical phenomena. With SkySafari 3, you can browse hundreds of astronomical images from NASA and the world’s foremost astro-photographers, and explore an encyclopedia of professionally written astronomical content.

SkySafari 3 Pro features an immense database of 15 million stars, 750,000 galaxies, and 550,000 solar system objects – including every comet and asteroid ever discovered. With SkySafari 3 Pro, you can watch near-earth asteroids rumble past the Moon through a backyard telescope, controlled from an iPad.

Southern Stars will demonstrate all versions of SkySafari 3 as well as its desktop offering for Mac OS X. SkySafari’s interface has been redesigned from scratch for Mac OS X, using 100% native Cocoa controls. For anyone who wants to experience cutting-edge astronomy software on Mac OS X, SkySafari has no equal. And it’s available at a fraction of the cost of traditional astronomy software packages costing hundreds of dollars.

To download SkySafari for Mac OS X from the Mac App Store, click this link:
http://www.southernstars.com/products/skysafari_mac/index.html

Joining SkySafari for Mac and iOS at MacWorld is our brand-new Android version. SkySafari for Android now truly makes it mobile astronomy for everyone.

To download SkySafari from the Android Market, click this link:
https://market.android.com/developer?pub=Southern+Stars

To find out more about SkySafari for iOS, Mac OS X, and Android, visit Southern Stars in booth #945 at the San Francisco MacWorld Expo, January 26-28, 2012 – and experience the future of astronomy software today.

Softaculous Ltd., the developer of AMPPS Installer that simplifies Web Application deployment on various Desktops and Servers (WAMP), today announced the launch of AMPPS 1.3 with support for the Mac Operating System. This version comes with the updated version of Softaculous, Apache, PHP, MySQL and phpMyAdmin as well as some usual minor updates.

“We are extremely excited about adding support for the MAC OS,” said Pulkit Gupta, COO of Softaculous Ltd. “And with support for so many Web Applications, its a great tool for MAC Web Developers. We are also soon going to release the Linux version of AMPPS with some of the coolest new features.”

To address the needs of different Enterprises, SMB’s, Web Developers and users, Softaculous AMPPS is available as a Free product which can be installed on Microsoft Windows Desktop and Servers as well as on the Mac OS. AMPPS has 236 Apps to serve the needs of different users. “AMPPS is specially beneficial to the Web Developers as they will not have to spend time installing Apache, MySQL, PHP, PERL, Python seperately and also they can install various blogs, cms, wikis, forums, etc. on their desktops by the click of a button,” said Pulkit Gupta, COO of Softaculous Ltd.

The Softaculous AMPPS library already contains popular applications, including: WordPress, b2evolution, StatusNet, Drupal, Joomla, Concrete5, phpBB, MyBB, SMF, bbPress, Coppermine, Gallery, Mediawiki, DokuWiki, TikiWiki, Elgg, Dolphin, OpenX, SquirrelMail, LimeSurvey, Piwik, Mantis, SugarCRM, WHMCS, PrestaShop, Magento, CraftySyntax, osTicket, Moodle, Claroline, etc.

“Web developers can use AMPPS on Windows and MACs to develop their websites using the various apps and then launch them on production servers,” said Ketan Shah, developer of AMPPS.

“The MAC version has two PHP binaries – 5.3.8 and 5.2.17 alongwith the latest Apache and MySQL software. None of our competitors offer this and AMPPS is also having 235 Apps that can be installed by the click of a button,” said Jigar Dhulla, developer of AMPPS.

Softaculous apps are also available in the form of Virtual Appliances. The Virtual Appliances (called Webuzo) contain all the necessary server software required to power the various Apps. Webuzo is a LAMP stack with Softaculous installed on a CentOS Machine. Webuzo can help any user deploy Web Apps on their Desktops or in the Office. “You can deploy so many office related apps with the help of Webuzo e.g. a user may want to deploy MediaWiki or DokuWiki for internal documentation and Webuzo can help you do that without you having to install any server software.” said Chirag Nagda, a developer at Softaculous. Webuzo can also be deployed in the Cloud which helps users to access their apps from anywhere.
Webuzo was announced in mid June

Thunderbolt is a revolutionary Input/Output (I/O) technology that supports high-resolution displays and high-performance data devices through a single, compact port. It sets new standards for speed, flexibility and simplicity. And it’s on the new MacBook Pro and the new iMac. This I/O allows for the display to do things that other displays simply cannot.

Thunderbolt allows you to move data between devices, such as a mobile phone or MP3 player to your computer, at ridiculous speed. To sum up its speed, the two channels of 10-Gbps throughput in both directions allows for speeds of up to 20x faster than that of a USB 2.0. Furthermore it also allows you to connect up to six devices at any one time, through one single, compact port.

The versatility the Thunderbolt offers with its one cable convenience goes hand in hand with the 27-inch LED-backlit screen. You can also connect it to any Thunderbolt enabled Mac and you will soon find you are connecting it for almost everything you do. How could anyone resist the 27 inches of high resolution picture, high quality video, a FaceTime HD camera and support for FireWire 800 and Gigabit Ethernet.
The screen really is the main focus point of the Thunderbolt as it is simply stunning. No matter what you have on the screen, the image will be crystal clear, whichever angle you look at it from. Also, it includes an ambient light sensor that intelligently adjusts the brightness of the Thunderbolt Display to your room environment. This gives you the perfect brightness for any situation while using the least amount of energy necessary.

The Thunderbolt display also includes a MagSafe connector. This is a connector that sits on your desk and is always ready and waiting to charge your MacBook Pro or MacBook Air, instead of having to find and put together the power adapter that came with your notebook.