URGENT WARNING: OS X ‘Superbug’ Update

Firstly, don’t worry everyone, our test machine hasn’t kernel panicked again since the last article.  The updated solution (which incorporates the original solution) is performing flawlessly at the moment.  We’re keeping our fingers crossed.

However, we have discovered some further fallout from the last kernel panic – which relates to the saving of files and data.

Please be aware that should a kernel panic occur, documents / files that are in the process of being saved or have recently (appeared) to have saved (within 30 seconds or so) are extremely vulnerable to corruption due to the kernel panic.  Our testing revealed that for a short time after saving a file (after the save was apparently complete – dialog had completed) a kernel panic occurring around 7 seconds after apparent competition of the save resulted in complete corruption of the file – reading a size of 0 bytes.  The application that was used during this test was Adobe Flash, and these results are likely to occur during the saving of any file in the stated circumstances.

In light of this we highly recommend that all users enable Time Machine and backup to an external HDD, Time Capsule or use a third party secure cloud backup service.  It is recommended that the software is set to back up new or changed files at least once daily.  During production work, for either individuals or businesses it is highly recommended that the backup interval is set at to a maximum of 15 minutes.