Corporate Symantec and Enterprise McAfee are good products.
Norton 2009 is a major change from the previous versions. It's quiet and performance oriented with plenty of options to change.
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Snow Leopard Antimalware Feature Gaining Publicity
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Norton 2009 is a major change from the previous versions. It's quiet and performance oriented with plenty of options to change.
Yep. Big improvement. Much needed. Kapersky and Norton are what I'm recommending my PC customers go with today.
I never thought the day would come that Apple computers would need antivirus protection. Must be the work of microsoft-employed hackers that are targeting Macs. I think the U.S. Govt needs to investigate microsoft! 
What if any anti-spyware applications are even available for Mac OS?
Anything along the lines of an Ad-aware, Spybot, Spysweeper, Malware Bytes, etc?
Anything along the lines of an Ad-aware, Spybot, Spysweeper, Malware Bytes, etc?
If they start acknowledging the very premise on which they've built their "Macs don't get viruses" message since 2006, MS fanboys will start howling at the perceived hypocrisy.
Time for a new ad campaign.
There is a difference between VIRUSES and MALWARE!
Macs do NOT get viruses. That is simply a true statement. And as far as malware goes, there have only been a small handful ever that were not even very harmful.
I am so sick of stupid PC and Micro$oft lovers ripping on Apple and their marketing. They are simply stating the truth. And NO this is NOT anti-virus software in Snow Leopard. Get educated you morons!
This is merely good preemptive implementation just in case, something that Micro$oft knows nothing about. They just do things like crap and make a huge mess and then try to clean up the after math. There is nothing to worry about. Apple is just continuing to protect its users before there are problems.
Thanks Apple!
SCREW YOU ALL PC and Micro$oft lovers!
Its good to see Apple is taking preventive measures.
Hopefully they'll port FreeBSD Jails over and provide a GUI to Jail/Sandbox applications along with a security policy based mechanism to disable features from running in a protected area (http://opensolaris.org/os/community/security/news/20070601-thesis-bs-eriksson-palmroos.pdf). Think bitforst where applications are isolated in their own Jail with policies (CAS: http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000820.html)
It would be great to prevent applications from running in specified folders to begin with, disable internet/network access from incoming/outgoing on a specified folder/volume etc... and limit where applications can be installed or run (execute bit? W^X http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W^X) from at a granular level.
Also why doesn't Mac OS X use vsftpd as default? clamXAV should be part of the core OS as well.
Hopefully they'll port FreeBSD Jails over and provide a GUI to Jail/Sandbox applications along with a security policy based mechanism to disable features from running in a protected area (http://opensolaris.org/os/community/security/news/20070601-thesis-bs-eriksson-palmroos.pdf). Think bitforst where applications are isolated in their own Jail with policies (CAS: http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000820.html)
It would be great to prevent applications from running in specified folders to begin with, disable internet/network access from incoming/outgoing on a specified folder/volume etc... and limit where applications can be installed or run (execute bit? W^X http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W^X) from at a granular level.
Also why doesn't Mac OS X use vsftpd as default? clamXAV should be part of the core OS as well.
Newbie, your status makes me cautious but what the hay, Leopard has always asked me when I ran a newly installed app; if I was sure I wanted to run it since it was downloaded.
Catch up...
Demi-God, I do get the same messege when I open a file the first time after it was downloaded. About the "mac skin on Firefox" comment, forget about it, didn't explain myself.
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Wolf! Eeeek!
LOL... OK, OK, Apple isn't perfect about this either. It's not as bad as vista's UAC, but it is annoying.
What bothers me is that it renews the prompt whenever I update one of my apps... If someone downloads an update to an app they've previously downloaded and approved, from the same URL as before, the answer to the prompt is always going to be yes -- so there's no point in renewing the prompt.
Actually, the malware that affects OSX is just as dangerous as it is for PCs, its just that there isn't very much malware floating around for OSX, but a lot for PCs due to their 90%+ market share. To reiterate, OSX isn't immune to viruses/trojans, it's just that there are so few of them that they are of little concern.
Apple is just continuing to protect its users before there are problems.
Thanks Apple!
SCREW YOU ALL PC and Micro$oft lovers!
Most of the people who post here own Macs. Some of them also own computers with Windows or frequently boot camp. Apple themselves had a support article posted suggesting that user's install anti-virus software to insure that their computers are protected. (It magically disappeared after people started referencing it on various online blogs, forums, and news sites)
You're calling out people for being raving fanboys? Might want to look at how you're composing your own comments toward other posters. You're just as bad if not worse then the so called M$ lovers you're bashing.
Or not.
Virus writers care more about damage than marketshare. OS X users should be an easy target because the majority of them don't run antiviral software. The first virus writer to write a debilitating virus for OS X will achieve celebrity status. We might be sitting around for a while.
And no, the two or so trojans that were released for OS X aren't nearly as bad as , say, conficker. To say that its anywhere near such is silly at best. Anyone can write a trojan. I can make a script that zips up someones home directory and uploads it to my mobile me account, and call it OSX.Trojan.Eddyisgreat.A. Oh look at that. The malware count is now at a whopping 3. I have to make sure the user runs the program though.
The next version will do something sweeter, like dismount all of your drives and add a new user named "new user". Gotta make sure the user authenticates all these actions though. I'll even name it OSX.Trojan.Eddyisgreat.B!
Doesn't happen to me. It remembers what I've answered previously. Are you on the most up-to-date version of OS X? I recall it doing that way back but not on the most recent versions.
You can thank Microsoft for plugging that virus hole on OSX. Visual Basic macros won't work on Office for Mac 2008. And even if they return in the next version of Office, if the malicious macro tries to do something to the system itself, OSX will still not let it happen unless you authenticate with an administrator's username and password. This is a foundation of Unix security. This is still better than Windows' UAC which will just ask if you want to proceed. Someone using your machine that doesn't know your password (or you if you aren't thinking) can click on proceed and get infected without needing to give any passwords. Anything less than targeting system services will at worst destroy the current document and possibly any others you open before your next restart of Office.
That would be a complete waste now that Snow Leopard finds both of the trojans that Intego can find. I don't want my cost to buy OSX to go up (because you know Apple would pass the cost on) or my machine's system resources to be used up constantly scanning for something that can't possibly be on my system since the OS now detects it and has you remove it immediately.
I do have AV on my work MBP, since it is required by company policy. I use ClamXav since it is free and doesn't use up much in the way of resources. It is there just to satisfy a checkbox from IT however. I am under no illusions that it is at all useful on a Mac, since (as best as I can tell) the malware signatures for clamAV are all for Windows.
I never thought the day would come that Apple computers would need antivirus protection. Must be the work of microsoft-employed hackers that are targeting Macs. I think the U.S. Govt needs to investigate microsoft!
Macs don't need (and still don't have) anti-virus protection. They have anti-trojan protection from the two known trojans that exist for OSX.
There is a difference between VIRUSES and MALWARE!
Macs do NOT get viruses. That is simply a true statement. And as far as malware goes, there have only been a small handful ever that were not even very harmful.
I am so sick of stupid PC and Micro$oft lovers ripping on Apple and their marketing. They are simply stating the truth. And NO this is NOT anti-virus software in Snow Leopard. Get educated you morons!
This is merely good preemptive implementation just in case, something that Micro$oft knows nothing about. They just do things like crap and make a huge mess and then try to clean up the after math. There is nothing to worry about. Apple is just continuing to protect its users before there are problems.
Thanks Apple!
SCREW YOU ALL PC and Micro$oft lovers!
LEAVE APPLE ALONE !
Yes they do, and that's a fact. And now read this:
"Software is considered malware – AKA Badware – based on the perceived intent of the creator rather than any particular features. Malware includes computer viruses, worms, trojan horses, most rootkits, spyware, dishonest adware, crimeware and other malicious and unwanted software".
Right. So because nothing seriously bad happened, yet, we should leave the door open? I guess that's why Apple is stepping in.
As a reminder: 50% of all Mac's sold are sold to "switchers" – Apple sale numbers – and these people might not have a clue whatsoever. And Apple knows this, and likes to prevent a real PR nightmare, because trust me, Microsoft is going to rub it into their face when it happens. Just a matter of time IMHO.
Just look at the media reports about the (two?) French "exploded iPhone/iPod"'s. Not good, and Apple don't want this sort of events to happen all too often, or their stock value might drop some day soon.
And as an example: Even I could have been a target to a malware attack. What did I do? Well, all I did was to download a zipped Open Source source program, which was modified without the real author's consent – they've put a "convenient" compiled version in it, which I know was used by someone else (all hell broke lose when I told him about it).
People really need to distinguish between viruses and trojans (and worms and adware and all the other crap out there.) "Malware" is a sort of catchall for everything bad. With that said...
There is nothing in the world that can stop an administrator from running a program that screws up a computer. Nothing. No Mac magic, not UNIX überness. Your computer is generally only as secure as its administrator.
So what do we have here? Something that scans an item at execution time and says, "Hey, this is probably very bad." Is there a problem with this? It can't stop someone from saying, "Nah, install it. Oh yeah, and here's my password to approve the measure."
While I'm sure market share increases the number of viruses out there for Windows, I'm not sold on the idea that it's the primary factor for all the junk that's written for Windows. While Windows dominates the desktop world, it does not dominate the server world. Things like "Code Red" don't happen with any regularity in the UNIX world.
Is OS X invulnerable? Nope. Is it "more secure" than Windows and have a better security model? Yeah. Is this malware scanner thing a bad idea? I don't think so. (I don't know enough to be sure, but as long as it's not gonna pull a McAfee or Norton on me and become more of a beast than any virus, I'm good.)
There is nothing in the world that can stop an administrator from running a program that screws up a computer. Nothing. No Mac magic, not UNIX überness. Your computer is generally only as secure as its administrator.
So what do we have here? Something that scans an item at execution time and says, "Hey, this is probably very bad." Is there a problem with this? It can't stop someone from saying, "Nah, install it. Oh yeah, and here's my password to approve the measure."
While I'm sure market share increases the number of viruses out there for Windows, I'm not sold on the idea that it's the primary factor for all the junk that's written for Windows. While Windows dominates the desktop world, it does not dominate the server world. Things like "Code Red" don't happen with any regularity in the UNIX world.
Is OS X invulnerable? Nope. Is it "more secure" than Windows and have a better security model? Yeah. Is this malware scanner thing a bad idea? I don't think so. (I don't know enough to be sure, but as long as it's not gonna pull a McAfee or Norton on me and become more of a beast than any virus, I'm good.)
I would just like to know if in the case of a torrent, say you download the tracker file from mininova or something, that will not be a trojan. But when you download the file/trojan from the tracker on vuze, transmission, what have you, then will this dialog pop up once it is on the computer? Because if it just does this through safari, then it doesn't really help for torrent files.
EDIT: It looks like when the disk image is going to be opened, it checks. So maybe this won't be an issue.
EDIT: It looks like when the disk image is going to be opened, it checks. So maybe this won't be an issue.
Anyone who views this as a bad thing isn't thinking clearly. Most people love the car analogy, but I love the housing/neighborhood analogy.
I'll re-use a previous post...
So..... I move into a really nice, suburban neighborhood and let everyone into my house because I assume they're honest people. They must be. They live in the suburb - not in the ghetto or inner city.
My first month in, I realize, while there has been no "break-in," half my stuff is gone.
I conclude, much like Windows users who now say Mac OS X is as vulnerable or more, that the suburban neighborhood is just as bad as the ghetto and nobody should claim suburbs are safer???
Really. Just because you're in safer environment does not mean you give everyone rights to your stuff, both digitally and in the real world.
Why do I post this again? Trying to prove a point. To all the MR readers who think this is a bad move, IF you have any alarm systems on your house or car, please remove them. Having them, even if the nicest of neighborhoods, is your implicit admission that your nice neighborhood is really crime-ridden. See? Doesn't make sense, does it?
I wholeheartedly support continuing security measures, regardless of how secure I am right now (21 years of no malware and no anti-malware software).
I'll re-use a previous post...
So..... I move into a really nice, suburban neighborhood and let everyone into my house because I assume they're honest people. They must be. They live in the suburb - not in the ghetto or inner city.
My first month in, I realize, while there has been no "break-in," half my stuff is gone.
I conclude, much like Windows users who now say Mac OS X is as vulnerable or more, that the suburban neighborhood is just as bad as the ghetto and nobody should claim suburbs are safer???
Really. Just because you're in safer environment does not mean you give everyone rights to your stuff, both digitally and in the real world.
Why do I post this again? Trying to prove a point. To all the MR readers who think this is a bad move, IF you have any alarm systems on your house or car, please remove them. Having them, even if the nicest of neighborhoods, is your implicit admission that your nice neighborhood is really crime-ridden. See? Doesn't make sense, does it?
I wholeheartedly support continuing security measures, regardless of how secure I am right now (21 years of no malware and no anti-malware software).
Felt it needed repeating. Very good analysis.
I think the PC fanboys need to stop calling us all mac fanboys. While they are out there, I believe, probably in equal force on both sides, it doesn't mean we are all that way. For anyone to state such is a troll/fanboy from the other side and this statement goes for both sides.
For me, I have never had a virus on my mac, and pretty certain I don't have any adware/spyware/ Blanket malware on my computer. This doesn't make me a fanboy, I'm just stating fact. I have only had macs for about 4 years now and I recently bought a dell that I don't use. I even used to build "windows computers". I just think OSX is better. That's my personal opinion, guided by my own experience.
What I do find insulting, is that many people who talk S@#t on macs have never used one for more than a few minutes. For those people, your opinion is baseless and without merit. For the rest of you, I respect your opinion, and your desire to use windows. I don't think it's a horrible experience, but for me just not on par with what I am used to now.
You may think us a smug group trying to force you into conversion. And that we may be this way by nature, but consider that we just really enjoy the experience we have had with our macs and have created a culture from it, not it from us.
I don't even know where to start with you Linux people.
j/k
Would you be so kind as to provide proof of this claim?
And secondly, it is because of this sort of ignorance that IT departments FORCE employees to utilize security software. Otherwise, you'd be quite a liability to the company.
I don't even know where to start with you Linux people.
It's free as in freedom.
