We knew the time would come. We wondered how long before the viruses would start to appear on OS X. The truth is that the long stable Unix based OS would eventually become a target for hackers. When Apple was a niche product and the only the cool geeky graphics kids used it, it was no big deal to hackers. Then the Ipod came along and the rest is history.
Pre "OS X" or "System 10" as it was called in the early days was not virus free, but mostly virus fee. I remember seeing a worm back in the System 9 days but in general, the OS was safe. Of course with the popularity of Apple products, it was a matter of time before the OS became vulnerable.
This new virus BackDoor.Flashback.39 installs after sending a fake Flash Update warning or from visting a compromised website. The fact that it may download itself is what makes it dangerous. Have of the computers affected are here in the US.
To see if your system is infected, you can run a check through the Terminal on your machine by following the instructions here. To access the Terminal, go to Applications/Utilities/Terminal on your machine.
If you haven't done so already, update your OS now.
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