Antivirus Firms Release Free Tools for Cleaning Macs Infected by Flashback

Yesterday, Apple disclosed for the first time that it is working to develop a software tool to detect and remove the Flashback malware from infected machines. We also previously profiled Flashback Checker, a simple app designed to allow users to easily see if their Macs are infected but which provides no assistance with disinfection.

While Apple works on its own official solution, other parties have continued to develop their own increasingly user-friendly tools for dealing with the threat and cleaning infected machines, with some of those tools making their way into the public's hands.

Russian antivirus firm Kaspersky Lab, which has played a key role in monitoring and publicizing the threat of Flashback, yesterday announced the launch of a free web-based checker where users can simply input the hardware UUID of their Mac to see if it has registered on the firm's servers as an infected machine. The company has also released Flashfake Removal Tool, a free app that quickly and easily detects and removes the malware.

kaspersky flashback tool
Antivirus firm F-Secure has also announced its own free Flashback Removal app. The app generates a log file detailing whether it has found Flashback on a user's system, and if so quarantines it inside an encrypted ZIP file for disposal.

F-Secure also points out that Apple has yet to offer any protection for users running systems earlier than Mac OS X Snow Leopard. Flashback uses a vulnerability in Java to install itself without user authorization, and Apple released software patches for Java on Lion and Snow Leopard last week to close that hole and prevent infection on updated systems. Machines running earlier versions of Mac OS X do, however, remain unprotected. Specifically, F-Secure notes that over 16% of Macs are still running Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, marking a substantial user base that remains vulnerable to the threat.

Update: Kaspersky Lab has informed MacRumors that the Flashfake Removal Tool has temporarily been pulled after the discovery that in some cases it could erroneously remove certain user settings. A fixed version of the tool will be posted as soon as it is available.

Update 2: The patched version of the Flashfake Removal Tool is now available through the Kaspersky Lab site.

Popular Stories

iOS 19 Mock WWDC25 Feature

iOS 19 Expected to Run on These iPhones

Monday March 31, 2025 5:28 pm PDT by
iOS 19 will not be available on the iPhone XR, iPhone XS, or the iPhone XS Max, according a private account on social media site X that has accurately provided information on device compatibility in the past. The iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max all have an A12 Bionic chip, so it looks like iOS 19 will discontinue support for that chip. All other iPhones that run iOS 18 are expected...
watchOS 11 Thumb 2 1

Apple Releases watchOS 11.4 With Sleep Alarm Update

Tuesday April 1, 2025 10:34 am PDT by
Apple today released watchOS 11.4, the fourth major update to the operating system that runs on the Apple Watch. watchOS 11.4 is compatible with the Apple Watch Series 6 and later, all Apple Watch Ultra models, and the Apple Watch SE 2. watchOS 11.4 can be downloaded on a connected iPhone by opening up the Apple Watch app and going to General > Software Update. To install the new software,...
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4

Monday March 31, 2025 11:27 am PDT by
Apple today released new firmware updates for all AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 2 models. The new firmware is version 7E93, up from the 7B21 firmware that was installed on the AirPods Pro 2 and the 7B20 firmware available on the AirPods 4 and AirPods 4 with ANC. It is not immediately clear what new features or changes are included in the new firmware, but we'll update this article should we find ...
maxresdefault

Apple Releases iOS 18.4 With Priority Notifications, Ambient Music, New Emoji and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:03 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4, the fourth major updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating system updates that came out last year. iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 come two months after Apple released iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to...
Apple Card iPhone 16 Pro Feature

Visa and American Express Vying to Win Apple Card Deal in 'Fierce' Fight

Tuesday April 1, 2025 1:50 pm PDT by
Visa wants to pay Apple approximately $100 million to be the new payment network for the Apple Card, reports The Wall Street Journal. As of right now, the Apple Card is on the Mastercard payment network, but that is set to change because Apple is ending its partnership with Goldman Sachs. Both American Express and Visa are vying to replace Mastercard as Apple's card services provider, while...
iPhone 17 Pro 34ths Perspective

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Sunday March 23, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
iOS 18

Apple Seeds First Beta of iOS 18.5 to Developers

Wednesday April 2, 2025 10:11 am PDT by
Apple today seeded the first betas of upcoming iOS 18.5 and iPadOS 18.5 updates to developers for testing purposes, with the software coming just two days after Apple released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4. iOS 18.5 and iPadOS 18.5 can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software Update. We don't yet know what Apple is introducing in the iOS 18.5...

Top Rated Comments

Dillenger Avatar
169 months ago
I checked and was not infected. I'm always skeptical about companies doing anything for free. What's the catch with Kaspersky?:rolleyes:

I think in time they will try to get you to open your walletsky so you can spend some of your moneysky on their Mac anti-virusky.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jayducharme Avatar
169 months ago
Interesting that these tools are appearing after Apple announced that a fix of their own is coming....
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
wazgilbert Avatar
169 months ago
Make sure all network, email, financial and other important passwords are complex, including upper and lower case letters, numbers and special characters.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
themelz Avatar
169 months ago
Kaspersky Lab web page is bogus

A few days ago I did the Terminal commands that F-Secure posted for checking for Flashback trojan (http://www.f-secure.com/v-descs/trojan-downloader_osx_flashback_i.shtml). Redid it today and both times came up negative.

I downloaded and used an app to do the same (https://github.com/jils/FlashbackChecker/wiki) and also the F-Secure Flashback Removal app. They both also came up negative.

I used the web-based checker in this article, put in the hardware UUID of my Mac and surprise, surprise, it came up positive.

I would have thought that MacRumours would've tested them and saw that the Kaspersky Lab web page is bogus!!!!
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Sedulous Avatar
169 months ago
I still don't believe the 600,000 figure.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AidenShaw Avatar
169 months ago
All Mac antivirus software is a scam. My mom's friend paid a lot of money to get her Mac cleaned of "viruses". Anyway "Mac antivirus" is an oxymoron.

People who don't admit that "virus" and "malware" mean the same thing to most people miss the point.

If your identity and credit card numbers are sent to criminals in the Ukraine - is it "OK" if malware sent the info and "bad" if a virus sent the info?

I'd think that most people would label it as "bad" regardless of minor technical details of the infection.

And add to that the simple truth that viruses aren't really that common anymore - OS changes have made the threat of viruses fairly small. When you get a product like Norton, you're buying "anti-malware" protection - even if the product name contains the word "antivirus" for historical familiarity.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)