Hackers hitting Macs with virus: industry experts

Now that is indeed a strange and unexpected headline to see this morning! This is the first time I have ever noticed anything like this on Macs in the news. I feel vulnerable on my MacBook, having no anti-virus, no malware detection, and no malware cleaners. I need to catch up on what is available out there, if anything.

This comes from Yahoo News, but is covered all over.

"The computer security industry buzzed Thursday with warnings that more than a half-million Macintosh computers may have been infected with a virus targeting Apple machines.

Flashback Trojan malware tailored to slip past "Mac" defenses is a variation on viruses typically aimed at personal computers (PCs) powered by Microsoft's Windows operating systems.

The infections, spotted "in the wild" by Finland-based computer security firm F-Secure and then quantified by Russian anti-virus program vendor Dr. Web, come as hackers increasingly take aim at Apple computers.

"All the stuff the bad guys have learned for doing attacks in the PC world is now starting to transition to the Mac world," McAfee Labs director of threat intelligence Dave Marcus told AFP."

Read more here

Phishing Email Alert

This is from the  Delta Air Lines website home page today, 4/5.

"We have recently received reports from customers of fraudulent emails claiming to be from Delta Air Lines. As such, please be advised of the following: 

We recommend you change your SkyMiles account PIN immediately and monitor your account for any misuse.

These emails were not sent by Delta Air Lines.

You should not click on the link in the email or open any attachments.

Instead, you should delete the email from your inbox.

Please call us at 1-888-750-3284 if you have questions or need further information.
These emails claim that you have purchased a Delta ticket, a credit card has been charged, an invoice or receipt is attached or that you may print your electronic ticket from an attachment. If you receive one of these emails, do not open the attachment as it may contain potentially dangerous viruses or harm your computer. Be assured that Delta did not send these emails, and our customers' credit cards have not been charged by Delta as a result of the emails. These emails did not originate from Delta, nor do we believe that any personal information that you provided us was used to generate these emails. We will continue to post updates on this page as additional information becomes available."

The Beginner's Guide to PC Backup

I had some major problems over the past week with my 7 year old desktop PC. I had to reinstall Windows XP and Microsoft Office. It was a painfully scary and very long process, but I am glad to say I was able to make a full recovery. My first and immediate concern was for all of my data: photos, music, and videos. Between my local backup - Western Digital 1TB MyBook and my remote backup service - SOS Online Backup, I was fully covered and am very glad to say I did not lose a single file.

I have been wondering lately if I will make it through my own personal challenge to make this machine last through the rest of Windows XP's supported (by Microsoft) lifetime - the end of which is mid-2014. I know that whatever machine I buy to replace this desktop will be running at least Windows 7 if not Windows 8. I enjoy the challenge, but the price I had to pay both in my time to recover and the anxiety over the possible loss of data makes me wonder if it's worth it. But, for the time being at least, I shall soldier on and continue with my quest.

This PCMag.com article is therefore quite timely and should be good for thought for everyone. Do be certain that you have a solid backup plan for all of your data (I use SOS Online Backup) and also for recovering your operating system (I admit I did not but I did have the original DVD so could reinstall XP).  

I encourage you to read this article: The Beginner's Guide to PC Backup