Mac Trojan horse , mind : There ’s a new sheriff in town , and its name isSecurity Update 2011 - 003 . Not a verycatchyname , to be certain , but it pay back the occupation done — and that job is protect Mac users from the nefariousMac Defender Trojan horse , as well as laying the fundament to keep them safe from future malware as well .
Mac OS X will warn you if you inadvertently download malware such as the Mac Defender Trojan buck .
In a knowledge radix document post last workweek , Apple release details of how to manually dispatch the Mac Defender Trojan sawbuck , as well as promise to roll out a security update that would apportion with the malware in a more robotic way .
Mac OS X will warn you if you inadvertently download malware such as the Mac Defender Trojan horse.
Security Update 2011 - 003 is that update . Weighing in at 2.36 mebibyte , it requires Mac OS go 10.6.7 and it tackle Mac Defender from three angles .
The first is an addendum to the malware definition control in Snow Leopard ’s built - in File Quarantine malware protection , which specifically identify theOSX.MacDefender . Avariant of the Trojan horse . ( My investigating of the definition data file post - update showed that it will also detect theOSX.MacDefender . Bvariant as well . ) While Snow Leopard has contained this anti - malware trade protection since it ship in 2009 , it contained only two definitions at launch , and has since been update with just four further pieces of malware ( three of which were variant of the sameOSX.HellRTSmalware ) .
The second tine of Apple ’s Trojan - skewering fork aims to beef up Snow Leopard ’s malware protection by adding support for daily definition update . This hold Apple the ability to add new definition in the scope , without requiring users to manually download a Security Update . Not only does that avoid user ’ workflow , but it also makes sure that potentially vital update do n’t linger , uninstalled , in Software Update . Users who would rather opt out of the downloads , for whatever understanding , can do that : Security Update 2011 - 003 adds a “ Automatically update safe downloads inclination ” point to OS X ’s Security druthers pane ; just uncheck that box seat , and your definition will remain untouched .
Mac OS X will warn you if you inadvertently download malware such as the Mac Defender Trojan horse.
third , Snow Leopard can now withdraw the Mac Defender Trojan horse if it ’s detected on your system of rules . grant to Apple , the OS will now check for the malware ; if it ’s found , Snow Leopard will force it to cease and desist , hit any persistent files , and cook any contour changes the program has made . Once all the damage is repaired , you ’ll be notified that the malware has been removed .
It ’s unclear , however , whether those remotion abilities will poke out to the late malware include in Snow Leopard ’s definition lean or to succeeding malware . There ’s also the issue of Mac Defender variants that have already begun to rebound up around the net , include a particularly nasty edition thatdoesn’t require the user to participate an administrative parole .
While seeing Apple actively combatting malware is a whole tone in the right direction , its future handling of potential malware outbreaks will bear far more weight . Apple now has the agency to apace and expeditiously save malware protection to its users , but it remain up to them to ensure that they utilise it .
