Malware for OS X controls 600,000 Macs around the world

This week a new variation of the malware Flashback for Mac OS X appeared on the web, exploring a specific flaw in the Java plugin. This malware, despite keeping the name, is not new. He is already infecting unprotected computers since September last year, when its first signs appeared on the web. And today a Russian security firm discovered how many victims he has done: 600 000.

The company, Dr. Web, says on its official blog that Macs were infected with variations of what they call BackDoor.Flashback.39, which has used various means to spread since last year and only on day 3 was corrected by Apple. These 600,000 computers running OS X form what the company says is the largest botnet of Macs ever discovered to date. And most of them are in the U.S., as shown in the following map.

The purpose of the malware, after it is installed, you hijack the search traffic and redirect the user to own servers, with ads. This behavior was something that helped the company to count the number of infected Macs to monitor this traffic. The company does not say if they are all genuine Macs or so called "hackintosh" computers that run on PC, but ensures that each of the infected machines are running a version of OS X.

To see if your Mac is between 0.3% of those infected in Brazil, follow these instructions F-Secure.