Apple taking technical, legal action against Flashback malware

Apple on Tuesday announced its intention to take action against the Flashback malware that experts say has infected up to 600,000 Mac computers around the world.
In an update to its support site, the company said that it is "developing software that will detect and remove the Flashback malware."

The company is also marshaling legal tools for the fight. In its update, the company said: "The Flashback malware relies on computer servers hosted by the malware authors to perform many of its critical functions. Apple is working with ISPs worldwide to disable this command and control network." However, at least one of the servers that has already been disabled was reportedly a "sinkhole" developed by researchers at Russian firm Dr. Web, which initially uncovered the malware. That server was being used to intercept traffic from the botnet spawned by Flashback in order to find more details about the malware.

Apple's update comes a week after the company released security updates to Java in order to defend against Flashback, and suggests that the malware continues to pose one of the biggest challenges to Mac security in recent memory. Flashback first emerged in September, a new Trojan horse that masqueraded as a Flash Player installation package for OS X Lion, and -- combined with the MacDefender malware -- helped make 2011 the "most active year for Mac malware since Mac OS X was released," according to security firm Intego.