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Apple's malware checker gathers dust
ABOUT SIX MONTHS AGO we noted that Apple had finally got around to bringing in a malware checker for its Apple Mac PCs.
The software only checked for two bits of malware and was largely mocked by insecurity experts. At the time people expected Job's Mob to do a little more with it, like actually allow it to check some Apple flavoured malware that was out there on the wild web.
But it is becoming clear that Apple is doing nothing to make its malware checker useful. It is not updating the data base for new threats, leaving users exposed.
Writing in his blog, insecurity researcher Ryan Naraine at Kaspersky Labs said it's disappointing that Apple has not seen fit to expand the signature base to catch the growing list of DNS changer threats that specifically target the Mac operating system.
DNS changer Trojans change the Mac's DNS server addresses, a trick used by phishers to load fake webpages and hijack valuable user data. They are typically distributed using social engineering tricks or within hot software.
While its malware checker is fairly basic it would not have taken Apple much to upgrade it so it could catch and deflect these sort of attacks. If it were an antivirus product offered by independent software vendors an update would have been out within a couple of days.
So why does Apple have such a problem releasing updates? Mac fanboys insist as an article of faith that there is no malware that harms the Mac. Apple has largely encouraged this belief as part of its anti-Microsoft marketing.
In doing so, apparently it can't be seen releasing security updates for a virus checker because that would dispel this marketing myth. So the question remains, why did Apple release a malware checker in the first place if it was going to continue pretending that it is immune to viruses? µ
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Im a mac user about 4 or 5 years, i use internet every day, i download some things, i'll go to crack, sex sites, and never had a virus... maybe lucky?
Windows without an antivirus? No way!
Can one of you really smart apple haters give me a link to a SINGLE OS X virus that has EVER been released in the 9 years of OS X? OS X has worms and trojans that you have manually install yourself (not just browse an advertisement on the web like on windows), but NO SELF REPLICATING VIRUSES EVER! Sure sure, they sell millions and millions of computers a year, but it's just not worth writing a virus for it when so many pc's are out there.. except that Mac OS 9 had plenty of viruses written for it, and in the late 90's, they were below 5% market share...
Dude, all windows users should go back to pencil and paper...
"I recently removed 8 viruses/trojans from my brother-in-laws Windows 7"
Means diddly. You haven't told us anything about the brother in-law. How old, experience(since you had to do it for him).Is he a Priest that went to some Kiddie sites he shouldn't have. Your leaving a lot out of the equation. Maybe he has some issues and has to go back to pencil and paper.
The other reason for Window's (all versions) dominant position as a virus-magnet is that it has -- and always will have -- more security holes in it than Swiss Cheese (ref: the last nineteen years of patching Win XP still have apparently not plugged all the "holes"). I recently removed 8 viruses/trojans from my brother-in-laws Windows 7 computer, so things have apparently not changed that much since XP.
But to be fair, any OS -- including OSX and Linux -- can be infected if the user takes steps to purposefully install an executable file. This has happened in OSX, as it is a platform that users are used to installing executables from other companies on (such as Microsoft Office, etc.). Not so common on Linux, as most Linux software is downloaded/installed from security-monitored repositories.
Avast (free edition) is available for Windows, OSX, and Linux (I use it to scan downloaded files in Linux in the off chance that a Windows machine connects to the network).
In the mean time the Russian mafia will just keep hammering Windows machines since it's so damn easy to do so.
Why? because there are more Windows machines out there. And I'm sure most aren't being maintained at all, because most people just don't know any better.
Where is the evidence for these pronouncements?
Ditto
It's only a matter of time. Yes its been said before but things appear to have a little more momentum now.
If I was the russian maleware gangs I'd hold off the apple brigade, keep hitting the 90%+ PC users to push the more wealthy/less informed to the Apple side. Wait till it hits say 15% market share and then unleash hell on them hard and fast. Much better to let an easy target get as big as it can.
Could be the biggest worldwide theft in history.
I run windows 7, xp Osx and Ubuntu.
I would be scared to death to not have at least 2 virus-malware scanners on windows.
I prefer Ubuntu out of all Os's. The fact is any OS can have a nasty virus. If you don't use caution some day when your bank account is gone and someone has your ID you'll wonder why you were not more careful. Avast has a free virus scanner for Mac and I use it.
Os x is harder to break than windows, but not impossible and is the perfect target for the low life trying to steal your info or crash your machine.
Apple mentality
nope there arent any viruses nope no way, steve jobs told me so, so there arent any