virus software

Mac computers are becoming increasingly popular, even in the military. Would it be safe to say that it's a good investment to get software to protect your mac from viruses? Or do you feel that there still isn't enough viruses out there that will hurt your Mac as long as you continue to run software updates?

No. Not needed. Never had a virus in 15 years in all my Macs.

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

just watch out for this . . .

[www.bleepingcomputer.com]

Quote
bleepingcomputer.com
"Mac Protector is a fake rogue anti-spyware program that for the Mac OS operating system. This infection is spread through the use of advertisements on web sites that pretend to be fake online scanners. When these fake scans are finished, it will state that your computer is infected and then automatically download the Mac Protector program onto your computer. Once the program has finished downloading, the installer will start and prompt you to install the program.

Once the program is installed it will be configured to start up automatically when you login to your Mac. Once running it will pretend to scan your computer and then state that there are numerous files on your computer that are infected. If you attempt to clean these fake infections, though, the program will state that you must first purchase a license before it will allow you to do so. After the scan the Control Center screen for Mac Protector will be updated to state that your computer is infected and at Risk. Regardless of the information presented by this program, you should not purchase this program as all of this information is false.

Unfortunately, when Mac Protector is installed on your computer it will also be added to your accounts Login Items so that the program is launched every time you login to your Mac. As there is no Dock icon for this application, it is also not easily closed and will instead require you to terminate its process through the Activity Monitor before you are able to remove the application from your computer"

less-savvy mac users have fallen foul to this scam although i must say the designers did a bang-up job

recently and currently I couldn't download software updates (have posted this before) and also I notice my internal camera on my macbook will be on what seems to be randomly at times.
I am suspicious it's a virus or because it's about 4 years old, it just could need some kind of maintance.

There are no Mac viruses. Repair permissions and run Disk Warrior. You could have a software glitch and / or a hardware issue.

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

you're such a smart cookie Joe. I will give it a try.

And they use Fear Factor propaganda to try to get you to buy this bogus "product"


bluey Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> just watch out for this . . .
>
> [www.bleepingcomputer.com]
> ve-mac-protector
>
>
> "Mac Protector is a fake rogue anti-spyware
> program that for the Mac OS operating system. This
> infection is spread through the use of
> advertisements on web sites that pretend to be
> fake online scanners. When these fake scans are
> finished, it will state that your computer is
> infected and then automatically download the Mac
> Protector program onto your computer. Once the
> program has finished downloading, the installer
> will start and prompt you to install the program.
>
> Once the program is installed it will be
> configured to start up automatically when you
> login to your Mac. Once running it will pretend to
> scan your computer and then state that there are
> numerous files on your computer that are infected.
> If you attempt to clean these fake infections,
> though, the program will state that you must first
> purchase a license before it will allow you to do
> so. After the scan the Control Center screen for
> Mac Protector will be updated to state that your
> computer is infected and at Risk. Regardless of
> the information presented by this program, you
> should not purchase this program as all of this
> information is false.
>
> Unfortunately, when Mac Protector is installed on
> your computer it will also be added to your
> accounts Login Items so that the program is
> launched every time you login to your Mac. As
> there is no Dock icon for this application, it is
> also not easily closed and will instead require
> you to terminate its process through the Activity
> Monitor before you are able to remove the
> application from your computer"
>
>
> less-savvy mac users have fallen foul to this scam
> although i must say the designers did a bang-up
> job

?It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer .? ~ Albert Einstein

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

fear is a rule of thumb with advertising. Though personally, I think puppies and babies are good ploys too.

Advertising is all about telling everyone what they should do / how they should be spending their money. It's all an illusion. Behind the scenes...where the deadlines are fast & furious...is where fear lives. Nothing worse that the Account Executive's intern standing over your shoulder saying "Status please? Are we there yet?"

...and that intern gets hired and becomes your client. That's fear.

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

here's a link worth looking at. while macs may be safer generally and at present,
it's user behavior that is often the downfall in terms of getting infected. it might be
prudent to learn things like not to click on links in emails and other practices
associated with the 'social engineering' that tricks users into infecting themselves.

[www.zdnet.com]

BabaG

BabaG, right - while macs are safe at the moment, apparently less-so, it'd always make sense to keep your guard up and stay informed.

something about the tortoise and the hare . . .

Bluey,

Currently there are no viruses for Mac computers. This said, it is pretty hard (=impossible) for any software company to develop an anti-virus software if there is no virus. Consequently all anti-virus software products for Mac computers are worthless and are probably serving a different (or even a harmful) purpose.

[www.wired.com]

The threat has always been small, because to install a software, you need to authorize your machine to do so. Credible sources is always a good guide. Here we delete spam software too. You never know what comes 'free' in the package.



www.strypesinpost.com

I just concerned that one day Mac's will be like Troy.

iphones and pads are huge. I don't see why someone wouldn't come up with a virus. In most cases customers purchasing these products right out of the gate has expendable income. Why not try to break in and see their accounts and what not?

There are virus for Droid phones and we all know about playstation. Is Mac really that impenetrable?

Yes. Apple's operating system OSX is based on a VERY secure core. There were already numerous attempts to break in to OSX and to write harmful software. So far there is no way for a real virus to function as a virus should be functioning, like they do on the virus plagued Windows computers.

OSX is also running on the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, which are connected to the internet 24/7 without a firewall or any kind of anti-virus software. There are hundreds of million of devices out there. For a virus programmer, who wants to get his hands on the data on your iPhone, it must be really frustrating that he is not able to break into your iPhone.

Believe me, there are way too many criminals on this planet, with nothing else to do than to think of ways to get their hands on your (!) data. If there would be a way to break into your iPhone and install a virus that spreads automatically without your knowledge, they would already have been successful.

Android is way to young and still not stable enough to be as secure as OSX.

Windows's problem is that Microsoft never really got it right. The reason why Windows is plagues with viruses is that from its definition Windows is not even a real operating system. Windows is just an "application" with the capability to be enhanced through a "plugin interface". This plugin interface is necessary for new "applications" to be installed under Windows. This is reason why all new application need to be installed at first before they can be used for the first time (setup.exe). Applications that don't need to be installed have the installer built-in to the exe, which will runs once invisible for the user when the application is launched for the first time. But this "plugin interface" is also the loophole where viruses can poke into.

There is a firewall on macs. It's in system preferences under security. Another reason that Macs are more secure is partly because Steve Jobs doesn't really care as much about backward compatibility. Within 3 years, a software sneaks off the back end and by 4, support is almost totally gone. The new products are usually good and worth the upgrade. Sadly, I think Rosetta may be dead by Lion. Basically, this forward thinking approach means that Apple will not get stuck as Microsoft did with XP and IE. Microsoft had to support too many backdated softwares and security became an issue especially with IE.



www.strypesinpost.com

I know about the firewall. But: Do you have it turned on? I don't (Allow all incoming connections)... and probably 99% of all OSX users also don't have it turned on. Most probably most users don't even know that there is a firewall.

The main purpose of a firewall is to ignore incoming connections that might plant executable code into your system, launch code, read valuable data, change settings, write files on your hard drive,.... none of these things are happening on a Mac. If there would be a loophole, there would also be at least one harmful virus. No loophole -> no virus.

Microsoft had several times the chance to "start from scratch". Unfortunately they did not learn from their mistakes. Even Windoze 7 is full with problems and is flooded by viruses on a daily basis. It's one of the reasons why I'll stick with Apple computers.

Yea, to execute a script requires authorization. I do have my firewall turned on.



www.strypesinpost.com

strypes Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> There is a firewall on macs. It's in system
> preferences under security. Another reason that
> Macs are more secure is partly because Steve Jobs
> doesn't really care as much about backward
> compatibility. Within 3 years, a software sneaks
> off the back end and by 4, support is almost
> totally gone. The new products are usually good
> and worth the upgrade. Sadly, I think Rosetta may
> be dead by Lion. Basically, this forward thinking
> approach means that Apple will not get stuck as
> Microsoft did with XP and IE. Microsoft had to
> support too many backdated softwares and security
> became an issue especially with IE.


. . . just turned mine on - is there any way to check for anything that may have got through while it was not turned on?

Bluey,

Nothing got in Bluey. Like we are all saying, if there was something out there that didn't require you to install it yourself, there would be millions of them by now.

There is the possibility of you installing a trojan - that's about the biggest risk. That's where you download something off the net, the OS asks you if you want to install it, and you do. It's akin picking up a needle off the street and injecting it into yourself to see what it is. Try not to do that.

ClamXav. This helps you scan files for viruses in case you downloaded an infected file and pass it to a colleague on a PC.

[www.clamxav.com]

Viruses can "get in", but they do nothing because viruses are programs. If they cannot run, they cannot do any damage.



www.strypesinpost.com

bluey Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> . . . just turned mine on - is there any way to
> check for anything that may have got through while
> it was not turned on?

The purpose of the firewall is to block ports which potential viruses need to get quietly into your system without any action from you.

On a PC there are a lot of ports open, which even need to be open to keep Windows "alive". Unfortunately there are way too many ways to "overload" these ports and to make then act as they are not intended to act. This is one of the methods for a PC virus to get into your system.

On a MAC there is no port that allows you to install remotely executable software on your MAC. Apple continuously looks out for potential risks and fixes them before anyone has the chance to come up with something that might pose any kind of risk. Apple of course does not elaborate on what they have fixed and they simply call it "enhanced security" in the next security update. So far Apple does a really good job, as nobody was able to break into a MAC like it is done on a daily basis on a PC.

I don't say that a MAC is 100% safe. It is just that Apple made the system so safe that it is either really impossible to break into a MAC or it is way too complicated.

As long as there is no virus out, there is also no need to turn the firewall on. It's kinda like: "I'm invincible. Shoot me... I don't die anyway."

--
Christoph Vonrhein
[www.chv-plugins.com]

Quote
CV
Christoph Vonrhein Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> bluey Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > . . . just turned mine on - is there any way to
> > check for anything that may have got through
> while
> > it was not turned on?
>
> The purpose of the firewall is to block ports
> which potential viruses need to get quietly into
> your system without any action from you.
>
> On a PC there are a lot of ports open, which even
> need to be open to keep Windows "alive".
> Unfortunately there are way too many ways to
> "overload" these ports and to make then act as
> they are not intended to act. This is one of the
> methods for a PC virus to get into your system.
>
> On a MAC there is no port that allows you to
> install remotely executable software on your MAC.
> Apple continuously looks out for potential risks
> and fixes them before anyone has the chance to
> come up with something that might pose any kind of
> risk. Apple of course does not elaborate on what
> they have fixed and they simply call it "enhanced
> security" in the next security update. So far
> Apple does a really good job, as nobody was able
> to break into a MAC like it is done on a daily
> basis on a PC.
>
> I don't say that a MAC is 100% safe. It is just
> that Apple made the system so safe that it is
> either really impossible to break into a MAC or it
> is way too complicated.
>
> As long as there is no virus out, there is also no
> need to turn the firewall on. It's kinda like:
> "I'm invincible. Shoot me... I don't die anyway."

I would imagine that for scumbags who pay a hacker to spy and snoop for them, that the ability to plant a trojan key-logging program on a target's mac, remotely, could be a very lucrative service provided by the hacker and one well worth paying for by the scumbag.

Such developments are said to be available to the police for example, once clearing it with the targets ISP.

bluey Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I would imagine that for scumbags who pay a hacker to spy and snoop for them, that the ability to
> plant a trojan key-logging program on a target's mac, remotely, could be a very lucrative service
> provided by the hacker and one well worth paying for by the scumbag.

Absolutely! There are way too many criminals out the on this planet, just looking for any kind of opportunity to get their hands on our money. One way for then to get our money is to steal information on our computers... bank accounts, passwords,... This happens each and every day on PC systems. Luckily our Mac computers are pretty safe.

--
Christoph Vonrhein
[www.chv-plugins.com]

There's always the rarity factor...how many people use Macs now vs. PCs? I suppose if you take iPads and iPhones into account the per centage has risen, but it used to be 1 per cent of computer users -- 100 PC users for every Mac user. An expert like Christoph can tell me if I'm wrong, but I'd imagine PC viruses are a lot more practical for hackers. They want to slave a lot of computers, not just have a one per cent chance of success.


www.derekmok.com

The 1% ratio was maybe 10 or 15 years ago. Realistically about 6-10% of all desktop computers are Mac computers. It depends on the source of the info. Some even have higher numbers... which I doubt. I think 10% is a realistic number.

But: As iPhones (over 100 million devices) also run OSX, the number of attackable devices should be high enough for criminals to be seen as a target.

Oh well.

To all the criminals: There are only 19 Macs on this planet and 12 iPhones. Don't worry. Continue to hack PCs. :-)

--
Christoph Vonrhein
[www.chv-plugins.com]

referring to what Derek said, I feel that Mac's have risen tremendously based on iphone and ipad popularity. A lot of people are PC users because they are intimidated to learn OSX but now have had practice with ipads. This is just my theory.
I wish I knew the actually stats on this. It would be interesting to see a comparison of sales compared to 5 years ago.

here you go:

BBC News - Apple fights fake security makers
[www.bbc.co.uk]


nick

and this just in:

[nakedsecurity.sophos.com]