Apple pushes anti-virus for Macs

[onehandle]

Source: BBC

Apple has urged Mac owners to use anti-virus software. In a note posted on its support site in late November, Apple said it wanted to "encourage" people to use anti-virus to stay safe online.

The move is widely seen as a response to the growing trend among cyber criminals of booby-trapping webpages. Before now Mac users have been largely free of the security problems that plague Microsoft's Windows.

The vast majority of malicious programs circulating online are aimed at Microsoft's Windows, largely because the software is used by so many people. A handful of viruses have been written that targets Mac's OSX, but most have been demonstration versions only and few have had any significant impact on Apple users.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7760344.stm

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This is a first. In over twenty years of using Macs and working with many others that use them, I have never heard of a single Mac user affected by a virus, trojan horse, or malware of any type. With Apple's rapidly growing market share, I guess this (may be) the price of success.

The upside is I have never, ever had to worry about this. For over 20 years. And I doubt it will be a major issue any time soon.

[Deja Q]

1. When a platform lacks a user base, hackers and thieves won't care.

No platform, technically, can be immune. Regardless of what some people wish to believe.

Indeed, given the prevalence of Linux, right down to the OS in modern television sets, if more companies made their own OS instead of leeching off of open source, a the heterogeny would create more security. More problems for decent folk too, but that's inevitable. Like product activation.

[question everything]

18. Soooo... will you get an anti virus program for your Mac? (nt)

[Deja Q]

19. No way!

For one thing, I don't have a Mac...

[question everything]

21. Oh...

[amdezurik]

2. leap-a for one

just because you have not noticed does not mean it has not happened...and yes the market share has been so small until now it was not worth it for the hackers and the script-kiddies who followed thier recipies, but watch out for your iplods and eye-on-youPhones next

[onehandle]

4. leap-a had no effect.

Unless you were a moron.

It was a worm that would require a user to download, decompress and execute the file then enter their admin password to cause any damage.

Nope. So far Macs are the king.

[meegbear]

3. But ... but ... but I thought Macs were perfect?

You mean they LIED??1?! Steve Jobs is NOT God?1??

[onehandle]

5. As I editorialized in my post, I know of no one who has been affected on the Mac.

Apple is just covering their ass.

Antivirus software has been available since the eighties, but I've never used it.

[Tracer]

7. Well, here's one.

I had a worm infect my Mac about 8 years ago. So long ago, that I can't remember the name of the worm.

But I've been running Macs for over 20 years and that was the only time.

[onehandle]

11. I do know of a few "infections." Mostly pre-OSX. But they never did any damage. nt

[dantyrant]

22. Pesky desktop virus used to bug me

Back in System 7!!

[meegbear]

10. I'm a Mac man myself ...

been since 2004 and helped write an app for the Mac, so I they're good; I just never got into the 'cult of Mac'.

I don't have anti-virus for the Mac, but I my Pro does have the dual boot and have anti-virus there. I read somewhere that a virus that appears in the Windows boot and infect Mac partitions, so maybe that's part of the problem.

[cbayer]

6. What are the periodic "Security Updates" that my computer finds

automatically and I download about once a month? I always assumed that this contained some kind of anti-virus program or update.

[onehandle]

9. That is mostly about your browser.

Surfing the 'net and opening emails is like leaving your window open. Apple and Microsoft both update constantly to protect from unauthorized entry. This is not initially about viruses. But with an open window you never know.

[Lerkfish]

8. oh, yeah, there have been viruses over the last 20 years

I ended up with two from various sources. They are relatively rare, though.

[CaptainObvious]

12. Mac OS X: Vulnerable to new Trojans

Mac OS X: Vulnerable to new Trojans
http://blogs.computerworld.com/mac_os_x_vulnerable_to_n...


Mac OS X targeted by Trojan and backdoor tool
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/security/0,1000000189,39559174,...

[onehandle]

13. You have actively make yourself a "victim" of a Trojan Horse.

Wake me when there is a real virus scare.

New identity, eh?

[Name removed]

15. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Javaman]

24. I want to see an DU celebrity death match between...

onehandle and nomad. I would by tickets for that one.

[Fearless]

14. 'Scuse me a second...

'Nuff said.

NTF

[Dreamer Tatum]

16. Does this mean they'll quit running those stupid commercials

...where the cool guy makes fun of the uncool guy for spending on marketing and not on it OS?

I always find it interesting that a computer company spends tens of millions every year to ridicule a
software company.

[alfredo]

30. The info on that page was old and now inaccurate. Though OSX is

very good at security, us users are still cautious, and a good number run AV software. I just finished my daily scan, it came back clean.

Been using Macs and Linux since the mid 90's and have never had a virus, or any other infection on my computers. There's always a first time, so I practice safe surfing.
I'm sure that as OSX gains popularity, it will become a more attractive target. Another way Apple can protect themselves is not to act like MS. MS pissed off a lot of people and that made the script kiddies feel justified in their attacks.

[question everything]

17. For a while I had Norton and Intego anti virus

programs and it appeared that they clashed with smooth operations - I don't recall what they were.

And then I was told that Norton worked with system 9, but not 10 so I removed both.

I don't download anything over the Internet so I am going to keep my fingers crossed.

[deadmessengers]

20. This is a long time coming.

I think Apple's marketing people are coming to the realization that most of us who make our living from information security have known for a while now - there is nothing inherent in the Mac architecture that makes it immune to spyware, trojans, and viruses. It hasn't been hit, mostly because Windows is a bigger target. But, with the focus of malware authors changing from "big splash" viruses to stealthier attacks on individuals, Mac users no longer can feel that same sense of security any longer.

[L0oniX]

23. Use FireFox and Kaspersky avp.

Kaspersky is solid and has never let me down since I first went on line back in 1994. Kaspersky has a free 30 day trial and valid keys on Ebay for under $10. I hate MS!

[Deja Q]

26. Trend Internet Security is also very good

I recently bought Kaspersky 2009 as its new features claim to be a tad better than Trend Internet Security Pro v2.

I've used Kaspersky in the past; I know they're good.

[Xithras]

25. One of my co-workers wrote an OSX virus

It was a proof-of-concept thing that was never released. Some of our Mac evangelistas were pushing for a full conversion to OSX desktops claiming that they were virus proof, and they irritated him so badly (he's a hardcore BSD junkie) that he wrote the virus to make a point.

As others have pointed out, Mac's are largely virus free simply because there weren't enough of them for the malware authors to mess with. As they become more prevalent, that's changing.

[bemildred]

27. Nothing is immune to attack.

But some are much better than others, and not merely because of the resources applied. We all appreciate the value of healthy lifestyle choices; well Windoze is not a healthy lifestyle choice. It's true it has certain advantages with regard to entertainment and cheap hardware, but for Internet and eMail and web browsers there are many other, better, cheaper choices.

[jmowreader]

28. The last significant piece of Mac malware dropped in 1998

It was the autostart 9804 virus, which was written in China to attack the Hong Kong print industry and spread worldwide. If you turned off the "autostart" function in QuickTime, it neutered the virus. (Okay, it might have been a worm, but it was Macintosh-specific malware.)

In the 1980s there really WERE Mac viruses. I remember this one that was just SO kewl...it attacked any drive named "Macintosh HD." That being the name Apple put on the internal hard drive at the factory. Whoever wrote this virus apparently didn't know you can rename a Mac hard drive--there's no "C:" drive on a Mac. Another one (called "nVir") was nine resources that could be renamed to create a whole new virus--yes, there was a "FUCK" virus.

So yes, there HAVE been Mac viruses in the past. I don't think the scarcity of Mac viruses has anything to do with marketshare, because the people who write viruses are the same people who like to torment Mac users. I think there are two reasons for the scarcity:

(1) it's hard to do anything really fun with a virus on a Mac because, unlike a PC, you can't format the startup drive on a Mac--if you wanted to create a virus that wiped out someone's hard drive on a Mac you'd have to figure out a way to create a virtual disk, install a workable operating system on it then convince the machine it started from the virtual disk and not the physical startup volume. It's probably possible to do that, but anyone who's that good a programmer is writing code for atom smashers or something. OTOH, you can reformat the hard drive on a PC from a fucking Word macro.

and, more important...

(2) it's damn hard to program a Mac in the first place.

[onehandle]

29. UPDATE: Apple removes antivirus support page. Old and inaccurate information.

Interesting. The page was found and made it into the MSM. Now it turns out it was "old and inaccurate."

Mac is still the most secure platform.

_________________________

"We have removed the KnowledgeBase article because it was old and inaccurate," Apple spokesman Bill Evans, told Macworld. "The Mac is designed with built-in technologies that provide protection against malicious software and security threats right out of the box.”

The Web page seemed to go against Apple’s newest ad campaigns that suggested only the PC needs antivirus software. Even though the page has been removed, Apple did not tell customers to absolutely not protect themselves.

http://www.macworld.com/article/137267/2008/12/antiviru...