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oh no! virus's.....again....

G

grooveattack

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/technology/2008/03/mac_virus_alarm_is_sounded_aga.html

just some interesting points here. i keep hearing people talking about mac viruses and how very soon 1000's of viruses are coming and we will all be sorry, but it never seems to happen. are windows users just jealous?

oh and i keep hearing ''There are currently ALMOST no known viruses for MAC OSX'' what does that mean? so there are viruses? so we should all have protection?
 
There are some worms or trojans for Mac, but AFAIK, no actual viruses for OS X. The thing about the worms and trojans is that they do nothing. Thanks to POSTIX permissions, it is very difficult to create a virus that actually has the permissions to actually do anything.

TEG
 
The "thousands of viruses" people are assuming that if OS X becomes the major OS that it will become like Windows is today; inundated with viruses.

There aren't any now, either. When people say "almost none", they're referring to a group of proof-of-concept intrusions that have never been released into the world.
 
I think there are a lot of misinterpretation and misunderstanding (and in my own post mispellings!) about what a virus actually is, what it does, what it can do, how it will act in OSX, what it can or is allowed to do in OSX. Not to mention the difference between Trojans (no not the condom you phreak!), Spyware, Worms, and Virus's. Some of which you have to type your password to allow it to perform an action.

One user wrote
If macs are being used in a mixed enviroment (PC and Mac) then the mac could potentially have a virus but not being effected by it, however macs can read pc files and vice versa, so the threat of you infecting a pc with a virus still remains.

Would you want to be the cause of an infestation??
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For the virus to reside on a mac and then self copy itself it would have to be able to run on both Win32 and OSX. Highly doubtful that will happen anytime soon. I think permissions would also restrict mass duplication using the Mac as a hosting bed for the original virus.

True, always better to be safe than sorry, but aren't we doing that by using Macs? 😀
 
I ask because Kaspersky Labs have told InfoWorld they had readied a prototype anti-virus package for the Mac and could launch it "within days", if needed.
Click to expand...

I liked this... I would like to take this opportunity to announce that I have developed a prototype tool that lets you edit text files on a Mac. Now, we're still technically in beta with this ground-breaker, but I stand at the ready, and I'll pull the trigger and give the order to start shipping it within moments should it become necessary.

P.S. My tool is called emacs. Isn't that a clever name? It even has "mac" in it. 🙂
 
i think people even using AV software on a mac is ridiculous, until a virus comes along no company will know how to stop it or what to look for, you have to wait to see what comes out then block however it gets into the system.
( and looking at some comments i am really surprised how bitter PC users are. they really hate us don't they!? )
 
grooveattack said:
( and looking at some comments i am really surprised how bitter PC users are. they really hate us don't they!? )
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Only because they know that without the Apple ][ and the Macintosh, Windows would have taken maybe 5-8more years to hit the market. Can you imagine just now using a Windows95 interface?

😛They may be bitter and hate us, but Apple (even when I was a PC user I knew this) really revolutionized the PC world, it's Un-be-lievable, I mean you look at it and BOOM!, Boom1, boom. 🙄

😛Wow, I guess in essence you can also blame us (maybe that's where the hate comes from) for allowing Windows to develop so fast and allowing people to create virus's for a platform that's so easy to infect. 😎
 
kkat69 said:
...Wow, I guess in essence you can also blame us (maybe that's where the hate comes from) for allowing Windows to develop so fast and allowing people to create virus's for a platform that's so easy to infect.
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Most Windows don't care about Macs. Why would they if they don't use them?

As for viruses, infection is usually down to user stupidity more than anything else.
 
BongoBanger said:
As for viruses, infection is usually down to user stupidity more than anything else.
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This is probably true but as an innocent Mac user, first week in a new job and first time on Windows 2000, I managed to download something that inserted itself into IE and put weird pictures into the menu and title bars while, as far as I know, all I was doing was downloading some .jpg's as reference for a project.

It's easy to be stupid when all you're doing is what you've always done and suddenly it all goes pear shaped.

Edited by the "civility Police"? I didn't say anything rude and I can't even see any changes to what I said! What is this?
 
To put it in perspective, they have been saying there is a virus coming for years. Years. OS X has been out how long now?
 
MisterMe said:
If you had ever used a Windows computer outside your basement, then you would know better than this.
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Oh dear, a silly person.

You see, I do know better. I've been using PCS for, let's see, over a dozen years now and in that time I've had... um... zero viruses infect my PC.

'Stupidity' means not using a firewall and anti-virus (both of which are free), visiting 'specialist' sites or opening e-mails with executable files embedded in them.

It also covers making posts on subjects you nothing about. Unfortunately that doesn't seem to have stopped you.
 
neil321 said:
Could'nt have put that better myself,sorry but thats a dumb thing to say as catching a virus in windows
is not just down to user error
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No you "could'nt" (hint: the apostrophe goes where the contraction takes place) which is why you mindlessly agreed with someone else.

Honestly, please try to understand what you're talking about. It's people like you and your mate that embarrass the rest of us.
 
BongoBanger said:
Oh dear, a silly person.

You see, I do know better. I've been using PCS for, let's see, over a dozen years now and in that time I've had... um... zero viruses infect my PC.

'Stupidity' means not using a firewall and anti-virus (both of which are free), visiting 'specialist' sites or opening e-mails with executable files embedded in them.

It also covers making posts on subjects you nothing about. Unfortunately that doesn't seem to have stopped you.
Click to expand...

Your point isn't necessarily incorrect, but pointing out that you have never had a virus is merely anecdotal. There is malware (and I say malware in order to encompass viruses, spyware, and other nasties) that can attack a Windows system even if it's behind a firewall and running updated AV software.

Granted, most users are just inattentive or even incompetent, but it is still possible.
 
hulugu said:
Your point isn't necessarily incorrect, but pointing out that you have never had a virus is merely anecdotal. There is malware (and I say malware in order to encompass viruses, spyware, and other nasties) that can attack a Windows system even if it's behind a firewall and running updated AV software.

Granted, most users are just inattentive or even incompetent, but it is still possible.
Click to expand...

Granted, it's possible which is why I used the word 'usually'. However, it's also fair to point out that the vast majority of PC users will never get a virus as long as they take care.

The point is that there is a myth that all PCs are constantly riddled with viruses or have to run protective software that 'cripples' their performance and neither assertion is true. That's probably why some PC users hate the Mac fanboys who continue to promulgate this nonsense.

Most PC users will admit that a Mac is more secure - and I include myself in that number - but since it's such a non-issue anyway it's not really a factor in choosing which system to use.
 
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