1. Kansas State University
  2. »Division of Communications and Marketing
  3. »K-State Today
  4. »Viruses now targeting Mac computers

K-State Today

April 23, 2012

Viruses now targeting Mac computers

Submitted by Eric Dover

Over the last week the Mac community has been dealing with the first major virus outbreak to affect OS X. These viruses take advantage of a vulnerability within the Java engine of the Mac and allow a virus to be installed on a computer by simply visiting a website that is infected. Apple has released a patch for the Java vulnerability along with a removal tool that aids in the removal of known variants of the virus.

All Mac users are highly encouraged to:

  1. Ensure their OS X operating system is up-to-date. To do this, click the Apple icon in the upper left-hand corner of your computer and select Software Update. Be sure to install all updates.
  2. Ensure they have an antivirus software package installed on their Mac. K-State does provide antivirus software to all faculty/staff and students at no cost to the individual. To get K-State’s antivirus software, go to www.k-state.edu/its/antivirus.

Presently there is not a good way to find out on your own if your computer is infected with this virus. K-State is actively watching for infected computers on the campus network. If a computer is found to be infected, the computer’s Internet access will be blocked.

For more details, see the complete article in the IT News blog at blogs.k-state.edu/it-news .