According to a report posted Wednesday by Dr. Web, a Russian anti-virus vendor that may have a stick in this fire, the security of more than 550,000 Macs around the world have been compromised by the Flashback trojan.

Dr. Web, which sells an antidote for the versions of Flashback that run on Microsoft (MSFT) Windows machines, describes the Mac variant like this: JavaScript code is used to load a Java-applet containing an exploit… The exploit saves an executable file onto the hard drive of the infected Mac machine. The file is used to download malicious payload from a remote server and to launch it…It may get and run any executable specified in a directive received from a server.

Oracle (ORCL), which assumed responsibility for the the Java programming language when it acquired Sun Microsystems in 2010, released a fix for the vulnerability in February. According to Ars Technica’s Jacqui Cheng, “Apple didn’t send out a fix until earlier this week, after news began to spread about the latest Flashback variant.”

The fix is part of the OS X software update called Java for OS X 2012-001. You’ll find it in Software Update in System Preferences. If you think one of your Macs is infected, F-Secure has instructions on how to use the Terminal application in your Utilities folder to find out.

source: cnn.com

A birdie for Hanson on 15, but surely it’s too little, too late: he’s -7. Mickelson follows him in, to move to -8. Still fighting, but only just. Mind you, on 17, Bubba slices a wayward drive miles left – and then Oosthuizen hits a similarly hopeless slice to the right! Not sure where either ball has landed yet, but both are in the trees it would seem. Here comes pressure! This Masters just gets better and better!

Harrington’s approach to 18 ends in a bunker at the front of the green. Symbolic of his day; he’s come up just short, time and time again. On 16, Oosthuizen hits a solid birdie effort from 15 feet, but it’s always missing left on the low side. Bubba makes no mistake, however, and crashes in his birdie putt. He hares after it before it drops, high on life. He’s now carded four birdies on the spin, and is joint leader with Oosthuizen at -10. This is intense, and as good as golf gets.

Bubba hits his tee shot at 16 to eight feet. It’s a wonderful shot under the most intense pressure. He’s been the most consistent player of the week. Is he just timing his run perfectly? Oosthuizen puts his tee shot into the centre of the green, consolidating his one-shot lead; the ball topples down the ridge, some way behind Bubba’s ball, but with a half-chance for a long birdie putt that would be a real kick in his rival’s teeth.

Westwood is now the clubhouse leader at -8. There are now only two people ahead of him: Oosthuizen and Bubba. That’s because on 16, Kuchar dinks a delicate, nay pretty, chip down the green from his awkward position to the right. He slowly guides it to the top of a ridge, where it breaks sharp left and speeds up. He leaves himself with a 12 footer for par, the best he could do. It’s an amazing shot. But not enough to save his par, as he can’t knock in the snaky, gossamer putt. He’s back to -8.

Bubba prods his uphill eagle putt on 15 in a very ginger fashion. He’ll need to make the tricky birdie putt he’s left himself, because Oosthuizen makes his, regaining the sole leadership at -10. Watson does birdie, though: it’s his third on the bounce, and he’s -9. This is awesome golf. Speaking of which, up on 18, Westwood ends with a birdie, clipping his approach to eight feet past the pin, and rolling it straight in. He punches the air, knowing he’s probably not quite done enough – but then again, he’s far enough up the leaderboard to retain a reasonable chance!

Oosthuizen pushes his approach to 15 wide of the bunker to the right of the green. That’s not great. Bubba, however, sends an 8-iron to the centre of the green, 20 feet from the pin for eagle. On 16, the super-hot Kuchar is spooked by the water, and sends his tee shot miles wide right, just off the green. That will be quite a test, with the hole near the water, near the kink of the green. Back on 15, Oosthuizen manages to manufacture a bump just onto the green. Not ideal, but not a disaster, and about the best he could have done from there. He’s left with a 12-foot tester. On 18, Poulter three putts, ending the day on -5. Typical Masters drama, right here, right now.

Kuchar taps in his eagle putt, and joins Oosthuizen in the lead. On 18, Poulter’s approach reaches the back left of the green. The pin’s in it’s usual Sunday position: think Sandy Lyle. On 15, Bubba cracks a ludicrously long drive straight down the middle. And so does Oosthuizen.

A poor chip and two putts for Peter Hanson, whose challenge is all over, I’d suggest, given the defeated angle of his shoulders. Bye! On 15, Kuchar is surely certain of a birdie, as he nearly creams his second into the cup for a second albatross of the day! It was inches away. That would have been truly preposterous, Gene Sarazen cubed. The ball’s not far from the pin, that’s an almost certain eagle.

source: guardian.co.uk

Religious conflict The area has been the scene of a religious conflict in recent years that has claimed hundreds of lives. There had been warnings of attacks in the region over Easter. Many of the dead are thought to be motorcycle taxi drivers and beggars.

Witnesses say debris was thrown dozens of metres from the centre of the blast. Kaduna can be found on the dividing line between Nigeria’s largely Christian south and Muslim north. ’Horrific act’ No one has yet admitted carrying out the bombing, but the BBC’s correspondent in Nigeria, Mark Lobel, says the radical Islamist group Boko Haram recently said it would carry out attacks in the area over the Easter holiday.

Local Christian groups have speculated that the bombers were targeting a nearby church, but that heavy security meant they detonated their explosives in a nearby area instead. Britain’s Africa Minister Henry Bellingham called the attack a “horrific act”. Meanwhile, security forces are on the scene of the bomb blast in Jos. National emergency management agency spokesman Yushau Shuaib said: “Security personnel have moved to the scene as injured are being evacuated.”

source: www.bbc.co.uk