Apple – Malware – The Truth and The Fix

You might have picked up some news this morning about malware and viruses and trojans INVADING the quiet tranquility of your Apple computer.

Personal opinion ? Like som much of news – massive exaggeration – and of course – because it is Apple – the bandwagon is in full flight about how the world is about to come to an end …..

It isn’t.

Really – It isn’t.

This article aside (I like Dave Winer a lot – and his point is valid), WITHOUT some calm and sense prevailing – the gap will be filled with rumor, myth and wrong information.

First – some data – I have no idea how many Apple computers there are in the world  – but only 600,000 of them have been affected.

There are however estimates of 900 million to 1 billion computers in the world today. So, even if Apple had a 10% of ALL of them (they don’t by a long shot) – that means there are around 100 million Apple computers

Which means that around 0.6 percent of ALL Apples are estimated to have the virus.

OK – so what is the virus ?

Here’s what are friends at F-Secure have to say :

Summary
Trojan-Downloader:OSX/Flashback.I connects to a remote site to download its payload; on successful infection, the malware modifies targeted webpages displayed in the web browser.

Think about that – IF you are one of the substantially less than .6% of Apple computer owners that have been affected – it will mean that the malware will modify certain webpages displayed in the web browser – when you visit them. It doesn’t corrupt your data, destroy your files, spam your address book. It is malware.

OK – but you still want to get rid of it right ?

If you are feeling brave go here – now.

If you are not feeling so brave – and not so technically minded – then still go here (it is the same page) – and note the first three instructions :

Manual Removal Instructions

1. Run the following command in Terminal:defaults read /Applications/Safari.app/Contents/Info LSEnvironment
2. Take note of the value, DYLD_INSERT_LIBRARIES
3. Proceed to step 8if you got the following error message:”The domain/default pair of (/Applications/Safari.app/Contents/Info, LSEnvironment) does not exist”

For the vast majority of you – statistically 99.4 % of you – when you get that message “The domain/default pair of (/Applications/Safari.app/Contents/Info, LSEnvironment) does not exist” – then know you are safe.

If you don’t get that message – then the instructions 4 onwards – tells you what to do – and that can either be YOU or one of your friendly neighborhood techies :0

Please email me if I can help you further. I am traveling at the moment – but always online 🙂

How to Obtain Optimal Resolution with Apple Monitors

To obtain optimal resolution with external Apple monitors, such as their 30″ HD Cinema Display, you should connect this DVI monitor to your Mac with Apple’s “Mini Port-To-DVI Dual-Link Adapter”.

This enables Apple’s 30″ Cinema Display to be used at its highest native resolution – a stunning 2560 x 1600 dpi! With Apple’s two most recent external monitors – you can now use their new Thunderbolt connectivity – to ensure the best possible resolution for your external displays …

Submitted by David Watersun

The New iMac is Here

… and what a beauty it is, you can read all about it here.

From the Apple site :

New quad-core Intel Core i5 processors are standard on the new iMac. Choose a 21.5-inch iMac with a 2.5GHz or 2.7GHz quad-core Intel Core i5. Or expand your view with a 27-inch iMac featuring a 2.7GHz or 3.1GHz quad-core Intel Core i5.

Full brightness with no waiting. That’s the advantage of the LED-backlit iMac display. Unlike displays that take time to warm up before they reach maximum brightness, an LED-backlit display is instantly on and uniformly bright. LED backlighting also lets you finely tune the iMac display to suit the ambient light in even the dimmest room.

The 21.5-inch iMac features 1920-by-1080 resolution. The 27-inch iMac boasts even greater resolution of 2560-by-1440.

Premium display technology called in-plane switching (IPS). IPS gives you a bright picture with excellent color — even if you’re viewing the display from the side.

With advanced AMD Radeon HD graphics processors across the line, iMac performs even better than before — up to three times better, in fact.1 So you see more frames per second in 3D games, and you can edit HD home videos with more speed and responsiveness.

Macbook Air or Macbook Pro?

At the meeting last night, the question was raised – so just how good is the MacBook Air – and more importantly – is it capable of running Aperture. As always – FULL disclosure. I am not a photographer, nor an Aperture user – but ALWAYS fascinated with what stuff can do.

A little bit of googling and I came up with the blog ApertureLand, link to the full article below – however one passage caught my eye:

In sum, it’s safe to say you can’t go wrong with anything new from Apple if you’re running Aperture 3. I wouldn’t recommend the smaller 11.6″ screen Macbook Air because of the small display, but the 13.3″ model is fine for moderate use.

This from a blogger in the photographic industry.

The Full Article can be found here :: How Does Aperture 3 Run on the Macbook Air and Macbook Pro?

I then motored over to the Apple site and found this comparative summary.

There were a number of comments last night that the Air had a lot of problems. This was true on the PREVIOUS models – NOT true on the new model. In fact  – let me go out on a limb and say that it is a fantastic product. (I use a MacBook Pro – but my wife is a VERY HAPPY Air User.)

Caveat – consider the source (Apple) but this is an interesting link – half way down on the right a link to an Apple promo about The Air.

More importantly – some  recent independant comments and reviews from some of the analysts I watch :::

GigaOm – 8th March

The Atlantic Tech Blog – 7th March

MacWorld – 22nd Feb – a review from a photographer’s perspective

Let me know if you need more.