JaypeeOnline » Apple

HowTo: Check/Fix Mac Infected w/ Flashback Trojan

Jaypee Habaradas — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 04:18:20 +0000

According to Russian antivirus company Dr. Web, there are about 600,000 Macs around the world that are infected by different variations of the Flashback trojan and are now part of a fast-growing Mac botnet. Of the 600,000 infected Macs the majority are located in North America – 57% from the US and 20% in Canada.

If you own a Mac and would like to check whether its infected or not, you can follow these step-by-step instruction provided by the folks from F-Secure.

NOTE: This procedure is risky and could be a bit tricky so it is recommended only for advanced users. If you think you’re not capable of doing it yourself, you can request a friend or a professional technician to assist you.

1. Open up Terminal (Finder > Applications > Utilities > Terminal).
2. Key in and run the following command in Terminal:

defaults read /Applications/Safari.app/Contents/Info LSEnvironment

3. Take note of the value, DYLD_INSERT_LIBRARIES
4. Proceed to step 8 if you got the following error message:

"The domain/default pair of (/Applications/Safari.app/Contents/Info, LSEnvironment) does not exist"

5. Otherwise, run the following command in Terminal:

grep -a -o '__ldpath__[ -~]*' %path_obtained_in_step2%

6. Take note of the value after “__ldpath__”
7. Run the following commands in Terminal (first make sure there is only one entry, from step 2):

sudo defaults delete /Applications/Safari.app/Contents/Info LSEnvironment 

sudo chmod 644 /Applications/Safari.app/Contents/Info.plist

8. Delete the files obtained in steps 2 and 5
9. Run the following command in Terminal:

defaults read ~/.MacOSX/environment DYLD_INSERT_LIBRARIES

10. Take note of the result. Your system is already clean of this variant if you got an error message similar to the following:

"The domain/default pair of (/Users/joe/.MacOSX/environment, DYLD_INSERT_LIBRARIES) does not exist"

11. Otherwise, run the following command in Terminal:

grep -a -o '__ldpath__[ -~]*' %path_obtained_in_step9%

12. Take note of the value after “__ldpath__”
13. Run the following commands in Terminal:

defaults delete ~/.MacOSX/environment DYLD_INSERT_LIBRARIES 

launchctl unsetenv DYLD_INSERT_LIBRARIES

14. Finally, delete the files obtained in steps 9 and 11.

If you get both “does not exist” errors on Step 4 and 10, it basically means that your Mac is not infected by the latest Flashback trojan variation. However, other Flashback trojan variations include additional components which require additional removal steps. Please refer to this link for further information and removal instructions.

I performed the procedure on my Mac and fortunately for me, it isn’t one of the 600,000 infected machines. I strongly recommend that you do the same thing and check to make sure whether your Mac is infected or not. It won’t hurt if you do and its always better to be safe than sorry.

Anyone here who got infected by the latest Flashback trojan or a different variant? What did you do to fix/disinfect your machine?

Mobile Marketing [Infographic]

Jaypee Habaradas — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 17:49:46 +0000

Mobile computing used to be the “future” of technology. Now, it has quickly become the “present” with the influx of new devices and technologies such as high-end smartphones, tablets, cloud computing, 4G, WiMAX and LTE are released and implemented. These days, many people use their mobile devices for almost everything – work, study, shopping and activities. Mobile computing has also created or boosted other stuff like social networks, location-based services and mobile apps.

With that, big and small companies, internet marketers even bloggers like me are looking for ways to harness the power of mobile. Lucid Agency, an online marketing agency recently released an infographic called Mobile OS Battle which shows different statistics regarding mobile OS (operating system), mobile applications, location-based services, mobile devices, etc.

Here’s the Mobile OS Battle infographic from Lucid Agency:

Some interesting facts in the infographic:

99.6 Million smartphones were sold in the 1st quarter of 2011.
300,000 mobile apps were developed in the last 3 years.
Facebook added 45 Million mobile users in 6 months (Sept ’09-Feb’10).
Foursquare reported 380 Million check-ins in 2010.
Mobile advertising market projected to grow from $160 Million (2008) to $3.1 Billion (2013).

How do you like the Mobile OS Battle infographic? What particular statistic/s did you find interesting or useful? Please share your thoughts.

[via Social Media Explorer]

HowTo: Avoid/Remove Mac Defender Malware

Jaypee Habaradas — Fri, 27 May 2011 22:03:32 +0000

A few days ago, Apple finally acknowledged the existence of the Mac Defender malware which has already victimized a lot of Mac users. Apple has also announced that they will soon be issuing a software update that will specifically detect and remove the Mac Defender malware and any of its variants (Mac Security, Mac Protector).

For those who haven’t heard or aren’t aware of the Mac Defender, it is malware (malicious software) masquerading as an anti-virus program. It is not a virus, worm or Trojan but a type of malware classified as scareware (scam software) that uses scare tactics to trick users into giving out their credit card information and pay for a useless or worthless program.

Here’s a demo video on how the Mac Defender malware works:

If you haven’t been yet infected or victimized here are some tips on how to avoid installing the Mac Defender malware.

How To Avoid Installing Mac Defender

If notifications about viruses or security software appear on your Mac, immediately QUIT or CLOSE the web browser that you’re using. If you can’t close it, do a Force Quit on the browser.
For some cases, the browser automatically downloaded and launched the malware installer. If that happens, cancel the installation process and DO NOT enter your administrator password.
Delete the installer from the Downloads folder or specified download location, drag the installer to the Trash bin and Empty the Trash.
Open Safari go to General Preferences and uncheck “Open ‘safe’ files after downloading” option. (You should also do the same for other web browsers installed on your Mac)

If your Mac has already been infected by this malware, below are steps on how to remove the Mac Defender malware.

How To Remove Mac Defender

Move or close the Mac Defender scan window.
Go to the Utilities folder on your Applications folder and launch the Activity Monitor.
Choose “All Processes” from the pop up menu, found on the upper right corner of the window.
On the Process Name column, look for the following app names – MacDefender, MacSecurity or MacProtector.
Click on Quit Process on the upper left corner window and click on Quit.
Close the Activity Monitor application.
Open the Applications folder.
Locate the app – MacDefender, MacSecurity or MacProtector.
Click on the app and drag to Trash, then Empty the Trash.

The Mac Defender malware also installs itself as a login item on System Preferences. Removing it is not necessary but if you want to remove it, here’s how to do it:

Open System Preferences, select Accounts, then Login Items.
Select the name of the app – MacDefender, MacSecurity or MacProtector.
Click the minus button (-).

Reports say that there are new Mac Defender malware variants that don’t even need the user’s administrator password and automatically installs itself into the system. To avoid being victimized by these types of malware and scareware, make sure you’re familiar with the interface of the antivirus/internet security program installed on your program. Never install software/programs that you’re not familiar with. When you visit a website and it suddenly displays a webpage or window that looks like its scanning your Mac for viruses, that’s bogus! Immediately leave the page and quit your web browser. If something was already downloaded, just follow the steps provided above.

Hope this simple tutorial will help you avoid or remove the Mac Defender malware from your Mac. If you find this useful or know of someone, a family member, relative, friend or co-worker who might find this useful, please don’t hesitate to bookmark and share this with them.

[via Apple Support Forums]

iOS 4.3.3 Software Update

Jaypee Habaradas — Thu, 05 May 2011 00:40:30 +0000

Apple iOS version 4.3.3 is now available for download. This software update was released to address the controversial location tracking bug that caused privacy concerns amongst iPhone and iPad users. Apple received a lot of heat including a class action lawsuit because of that tracking bug that’s why they released the iOS 4.3.3 software update earlier than scheduled.

Aside from the changes to the crowd-sourced location database cache, the iOS 4.3.3 software update also includes the following:

Reduces the size of the cache
No longer backs the cache up to iTunes
Deletes the cache entirely when Location Services is turned off

iPhone and iPad users can now update their devices to iOS 4.3.3 via iTunes. To perform the update, connect your iOS device (iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch) to your computer. When iTunes detects your device, it will inform you about the available software update.

Click on the “Download and Update” button and iTunes will do the rest. If you’ve jailbreaked your device, you should wait for iOS 4.3.3 jailbreaking tools before upgrading. I just upgraded my iPhone to iOS 4.3.3 and the upgrade process was smooth, no issues or problems so far.

Anyone who upgraded their iOS device to version 4.3.3? How did the upgrade process go? Was it smooth or was there any issues? Please share your thoughts.

iOS 4.3 Now Available For Download

Jaypee Habaradas — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 21:18:12 +0000

Early reports indicated that Apple would release the much awaited iOS 4.3 firmware update on March 11th, the same time as the iPad 2 becomes available. However, Apple has surprised everybody by releasing the update today.

So what’s new with iOS 4.3? This firmware update features the Nitro Javascript engine, new iTunes Home Sharing features allowing users to play media content from their desktop iTunes over WiFi, new AirPlay enhancements that allows users to to stream media content from an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to a HDTV via Apple TV, and last but not least, the most awaited feature – Personal Hotspot. This feature allows the iPhone 4 to act as a WiFi hotspot and share its 3G or cellular data connection with other WiFi-capable devices. Personal Hotspot can provide secure, password protected WiFi connectivity with up to 5 devices at once.

iOS 4.3 is now available for download via iTunes (make sure you have the latest version of iTunes – v 10.2.1). To update to iOS 4.3, launch iTunes and connect your iOS device (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch) to your computer. As soon as iTunes detects your device, it will inform you about an available new firmware update.

Just click on the “Download and Update” button and it will do the rest. Those who have jailbreaked devices should wait for iOS 4.3 jailbreaking tools before updating.

Anyone updated their device to iOS 4.3? Which new feature do you like the most? Was the update process smooth or did you encounter any issues or problems? Please share your thoughts.