Apple Pledges to Take Care of Malware for Macs

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I'm in a state of mixed emotions over this whole debacle. I'm cheering inside at the arrogance of apple fanboys getting their comeuppance. I'm sad that this means apple is somehow relevant enough to warrant the attention of virus makers and identity thieves. I'm amused at the antiquated notion of most njoobie users that believe you still only get viruses/malware from "bad sites" or surfing for porno.

It is a brave new world out there with a scary underbelly. I do hope you enjoy being on the radar now and can adapt as well as you believe you can.
 
Without getting into any of the PC vs. Mac fan boy stuff, I think these security issues will be very interesting to follow.

It will be very interesting to see:
- how Apple addresses what is certainly going to become an ongoing issue.
- how their user base (who are largely new to these things) will react.
- how quickly both Apple and that user base can come up to speed.

In a related story, I think we may very well be looking at a similar situation regarding the Apple AppStore which just hasn't come to fruition, yet.

Consider having the world's largest AppStore. Now consider that Apple already (obviously) cannot even keep up with rolling out the vendor supplied updates for all of the products already in that store.

How long does everyone think it's going to take before some virus writers to decide to target this huge and potentially ill prepared and unsophisticated group of users by going after some known vulnerability in a common Mac iPad or other iDevice app?

If I were a virus writer I know it's where I would be looking. Does anyone else see a potential sh*t storm brewing here?

PS: I agree that the PC vs. Mac ads with the Mac user sneezing would be great (and now are absolutely appropriate!)

 
[citation][nom]zybch[/nom]Especially if its a stupid ignorant macsheep sitting in the chair.[/citation]
So the same must be true for windows sheep as well. When you consider the thousands of viruses and trojans the window sheep are faced with and the number of self inficting windows users. I would say that is why hackers target windows users....because the pool of gulible, incompetent users is much larger.
 
[citation][nom]serkol[/nom]I have to work with Win and Mac, sometimes at the same time 🙂 What annoys me the most in Win is the always-on antivirus. It spins the HDD almost always (and creates those annoying chirping sounds), it slows down the whole system, it annoys me with popups, it sometimes deletes legitimate files that I download, I just hate it. I hope that Mac avoids this.I hope that Apple will say - you want virus-free soft? Get your Mac soft exclusively from Mac App Store.[/citation]

Yo pass whatever you smoking over-here... I see its some good $hit...

I think you have to be one of those users that gets this crap. hahaha
 
[citation][nom]lassik[/nom]... Give M$ a call saying "I've got a virus, please create a security fix for it" and they'll laugh in your face.[/citation]
Ummm. Have you heard of Microsoft Security Essentials? That's Microsoft's free, regularly updated antivirus package.

And then you have the flip side of the coin, where if MS does too much, entities such as the U. S. government and the EU sue them for monopolistic practices.
 
Maybe this will quiet all those people that ignorantly say "Mac's don't get viruses or Malware".

The only reason that these issues are rare on Macs is because THE VAST MAJORITY OF PEOPLE USE PC computers. This makes PCs the main target. However, the makers of these programs and viruses see that Macs are gaining in popularity. If I was to guess, I would bet that they would likely be the easiest targets too.

Why?
1st - because the attitude that Macs don't get malware and viruses means most of them are unprotected. (Easy to infect)
2nd - because I believe the average Mac user to be computer illiterate and not know that they are not buying a program to fix the issue but being scamed into providing thier credit card number.

For those reasons I believe Malware and Virus makers may have a higher success rate trying to infect Mac computers.

If you really want to avoid infections use Linux. At this point you are more likely to get an infection on a Mac than in Linux. Yes, there are viruses for Linux too but they are rare.
 
It boils down to the fact that there are bad people out there trying to obtain your information . PERIOD.

what matters is who is doing what to mitigate that threat. MS and third parties have their sh#! together Apple doesn't.

BTW I'm writing this from a 2010 Mac pro with my trusty Win7 VM open for the REAL work I do as an IT pro. I only use the Mac at work for Development and test grouping for my whiny Mac users in the Marketing department. I hate this thing with the intensity of a thousand fiery suns. thank the lord google Chrome was developed for OSX or I would pee on this stupid shiny box.
 
[citation][nom]jsc[/nom]Ummm. Have you heard of Microsoft Security Essentials? That's Microsoft's free, regularly updated antivirus package.And then you have the flip side of the coin, where if MS does too much, entities such as the U. S. government and the EU sue them for monopolistic practices.[/citation]

How long has Microsoft allowed it's users to be infected and hacked at will by hackers before they came out with Security Essential? It was released sometime in 2009.....they have been around since the 80's and been virus hosts/relay stations for a good 15 yrs and now in 2009 they get a clue, so now all of a sudden they are gods gift to Computers? Sounds like thats something they should have done years ago.....
 
[citation][nom]lassik[/nom]Apple support have always been great, no question.It's never down to the manufacturer/OS company to get rid of viruses for you, because, lets face it; most viruses are down to the users stupidity or looking at too much pr0n. So it's nice that Apple have created a fix for this. Give M$ a call saying "I've got a virus, please create a security fix for it" and they'll laugh in your face.[/citation]

You've obviously never worked for a school district. I see the windows variant of this virus all the time and I assure you that 99% of those infections had nothing to do with searching for porn. As JSC said, MS offers a free, regularly updated anti-virus package. I've used it and it's not bad. It's miles ahead of CA's E-trust and we had to pay for that garbage.

I wish apple the best of luck on trying to solve this problem. Like I said before, I've seen the windows variants of this virus and some of them are nasty. They prevent anti-virus software from running. They load in safe mode. They redirect your browser. My favorite was the one that set the entire C:\ contents to hidden. It's always evolving. But again, best of luck to them.
 
[citation][nom]zybch[/nom]And that is why the mac ALWAYS get screwed first in the Pwn2Own events??[/citation]

Pwn2Own is NOT A RACE. First or second has nothing to do with security.
The organiser of the event decides in what order systems are attacked. The hackers have to wait their turn before they can attempt their attack (which has been prepared weeks in advance).

The fact that even this MacDefender (which doesn't exploit any security flaw other than the user's stupidity) is big news, shows how little malware for Mac OS X there is.
If that's due to "security through obscurity" or "real security" is another matter. Only time will show that. (that is, if Mac OS X is ever going to get any more market share. Apple's strategy at the moment is not aiming for market dominance.)
 
[citation][nom]rickjamesb1tch[/nom]if Mac OS X and Windows were a 50/50 split of the market, and coders were working on malware for both OSes, OS X would still be more secure thanks to it's rock solid unix architecture. Windows is just a much easier target.[/citation]
Actually quite the opposite. The main reason is that Microsoft has been having to tackle viruses for decades. The last two releases (Vista and 7) are rock solid when it comes to security.

Security experts often say that Windows is a house with bars on the outside of the windows (no pun intended) in a bad part of town, and Mac OS X is a house with open windows in a good part of town.
 
[citation][nom]zybch[/nom]Especially if its a stupid ignorant macsheep sitting in the chair.[/citation]

After supporting Mac/Win/*nix systems for over a quarter century I can safely attest to the average Mac user actually has a much higher level of tech savvy then the average Windows user.
 
[citation][nom]deanjo[/nom]After supporting Mac/Win/*nix systems for over a quarter century I can safely attest to the average Mac user actually has a much higher level of tech savvy then the average Windows user.[/citation]

I'd have to concur.. The average pc user is, unfortunately, an idiot. This, obviously, doesn't include enthusiasts people. I'm referring to the "walks into wal-mart and picks up an E-Machine/basic hp laptop/Orders a bottom of the barrel Dell desktop/laptop online kinda person. They consistantly destroy their system through various methods of abuse.. I can't tell you how often a friend or colleague asks for my help, and what I end up doing could have been prevented by simple, ordiary tasks that can be automated most of the time. And I've never had to deal with anything like that from a Mac. Which isn't to say it doesn't happen.. But statistically speaking.. I should have seen many, many by now.

In my opinion, based on what I have seen in myself, and others around me, is that most of the time, people just plan and simple treat "expensive" things, and/or things that they built/made themselves, better than cheaper products, like the aforementioned products above. Which would also seem to explain why I don't see alot of "older" computers of that nature, as they are usually driven 20ft into the ground within the first 12-18 months.. Which would would be an extremely short life for a MacBook, for example.

Simply stated.. If you pay an "arm and a leg" for something, chances are, you're gonna baby that thing.. And that's what I always see, on average. Of course, once again.. Just my experience and opinion.

And on topic.. I am glad they are handling this issue the way they are. Could have been a little more PR friendly about it though.. :/
 
[citation][nom]deanjo[/nom]After supporting Mac/Win/*nix systems for over a quarter century I can safely attest to the average Mac user actually has a much higher level of tech savvy then the average Windows user.[/citation]

Anecdotal evidence isn't worth anything really.

Time after time I hear the MacSheep state something like "I own a Mac so I don't have to ever worry about malware".

Pride commeth before the fall, every time.

99% Mac users ( ignorance = bliss)
 
[citation][nom]rickjamesb1tch[/nom]if Mac OS X and Windows were a 50/50 split of the market, and coders were working on malware for both OSes, OS X would still be more secure thanks to it's rock solid unix architecture. Windows is just a much easier target.[/citation]

Neither OSX or Unix are inherently virus-proof. They just don't have the market share to matter.

I normally don't support these kinds of things, but I can't wait for a virus maker to get irritated with pompous comments like this and start making some serious widespread viruses to get people off their high horse.
 
[citation][nom]rickjamesb1tch[/nom]if Mac OS X and Windows were a 50/50 split of the market, and coders were working on malware for both OSes, OS X would still be more secure thanks to it's rock solid unix architecture. Windows is just a much easier target.[/citation]
No. Sorry. You have a fundamental misunderstanding of OS security.
 
[citation][nom]drwho1[/nom]if Mac OS X and Windows were a 50/50 split of the market, and coders were working on malware for both OSes, OS X would still be more secure thanks to it's rock solid unix architecture. Windows is just a much easier target.[/citation]

hahaha... oh, god that's rich...
 
[citation][nom]deanjo[/nom]After supporting Mac/Win/*nix systems for over a quarter century I can safely attest to the average Mac user actually has a much higher level of tech savvy then the average Windows user.[/citation]

Mileage may vary. I can attest to the exact opposite. In my experience, the Mac users who have been tech savvy turned out to be *nix users... or former *nix users. The rest... complete morons. I seriously can't tell you how many times I've had a Mac user ask me why a .exe file wouldn't install... its actually kind of sad.
 
[citation][nom]milktea[/nom]It's so funny 'rickjamesb1tch' got more than 20 thumbs down. *LOL*[/citation]
It is... I don't ever think I've seen a post here on Toms that was auto hidden.

 
[citation][nom]JamesSneed[/nom]It doesn't matter how rock solid the Unix OS is for OS X, the biggest vulnerability is between the chair and keyboard.[/citation]
lol! Right in the balls!
 
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