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Ha ha...deal.

So like with most of these things, it seems like it mostly affects pirates.

yah, but honestly, you have to wonder what goes through people's heads. If someone is downloading pirated software, they often know it, or SHOULD know it, which begs the question, do they really think a pirate is a safe dude to get software from? o_O
 
Apple is simply trying to downplay security threats for marketing purposes and thus providing users with a false sense of security.


Fine by me. I've never worried about my security on my Mac. And frankly, unless something terrible happens, I never will.

Don't pirate, and don't worry.
 
...leading to speculation by Sophos that Apple is simply trying to downplay security threats for marketing purposes and thus providing users with a false sense of security.

DUH. Of course Apple is trying to downplay malware on OS X, it's one of the primary sell points against Windows.

On the other hand, the only true viruses I've seen on OS X are brought in by Macros via Word or Excel, and while they won't execute on OS X, they can get passed back to Windows users.

And, people still need saving from themselves - this sounds more like a Trojan Horse: The user has given permission for the program to execute code on their machine. Most programs calling themselves "antivirus" also cover Trojan Horses, so there is a need for some kind of anti-malware program on Macs, which of course, Sophos is happy to point out should be theirs.
 
The question still stands. Why, when seeing "new software update" appear in OS X, would someone ignore that pop-up from Apple and instead go out and find iPhoto on the internet?

That makes no sense to me. But the person questioning it is "dense?" Then I must be dense too. Please explain it to me because I don't get it.

Because a software update is not the same as a "new version." You cannot get a free update from (example) iLife '08 to iLife '09.
 
Well

OK, this is an interesting thread and we have hashed this for years. The bottom line is. The user must download and install. Second, why would Apple make a big deal of a threat and tell the world what they are doing to fix it. That would be like the military calling up someone and telling them their plans for attack. Maybe if reputable interests would stop exposing all strategies then there might be less problems on all platform. Dah!!!
 
Umm,

so Apple is wasting time remaking something they could just simply add too?

Sounds like somebody at Novell just got a job at Apple. :cool:

It is only used for the built in email server as far as I know, it doesn't do any on access scanning.

Dealing with Novell at work myself, I hope Apple doesn't start producing Novell 'quality' code.
 
i know the only way you can potentially get some kind of malware or viruses or trojans etc. is when you need to type in ur admin password when installing an application, right? well i've hardly come across items that require a admin pass, such as simple installations like, google chrome, skype, oovoo, appcleaner, coconut battery etc.

so with that being said, i dunno if all of these installed items NEEDED a admin password confirmation pop up or not. im not worried about the apps i installed above, but im just curious if all macs by default will only ask you for an admin pass or specific installs, and not ALL installations? which applications would most likely ask you for an admin pass before installing?
 
Alleluia Brother!

So, let me see if I've got this right.

If I download pirated/illegal/illicit software from the interwebs and proceed to install it and give my root password, something bad may happenz?

I can haz malware?

People are morons. Stop downloading and installing pirated/hacked free copies of paid for software and you won't have these problems. Idiots.

Apple makes good software, reliable applications and they work... Who would not like to pay for this "peace of mind"? I, like you, pay for my software and add-ons...Especially if this is Apple... Call me a fanboi if you want... Just placing my money where it needs to be put: in the hands that help me enjoy my digital life.
 
i know the only way you can potentially get some kind of malware or viruses or trojans etc. is when you need to type in ur admin password when installing an application, right? well i've hardly come across items that require a admin pass, such as simple installations like, google chrome, skype, oovoo, appcleaner, coconut battery etc.

so with that being said, i dunno if all of these installed items NEEDED a admin password confirmation pop up or not. which applications would most likely ask you for an admin pass before installing?

It's rather hard to say really, but yah, most programs don't need admin access, because for most programs everything can be placed somewhere in the home folder subdirectories and in /Applications. Some programs, like antivirus software, need admin access so it can deal with viruses no matter where they are. Imagine antivirus software that didn't have admin rights. Virus in /bin? sorry, it's gonna have to stay there. lol
 
Because a software update is not the same as a "new version." You cannot get a free update from (example) iLife '08 to iLife '09.


which is rather surprising seeing as how they want you to download everything else and ditch discs... (itunes content) ;)
 
"Antimalware" threw me off. I thought it was like animalware at first. I wonder what that would be like... Shouldn't it be spelled with a hyphen?
 
So, let me see if I've got this right.

If I download pirated/illegal/illicit software from the interwebs and proceed to install it and give my root password, something bad may happenz?

I can haz malware?

People are morons. Stop downloading and installing pirated/hacked free copies of paid for software and you won't have these problems. Idiots.

I think there was also a hacked/pirated Pages app that had malware on it not too long ago.
 
Ha ha...deal.

So like with most of these things, it seems like it mostly affects pirates.

Well, this type of Malware is called Trojan for a reason. It can hide in any program you download and install, if it is not cryptographically signed AND you take the trouble to securely verify the signature.

Try to take the position of an Attacker. Of course it mostly targets pirated software because this is an easy enough vector to spread your code. If an Attacker realises that this does not get enough victims he/she will switch to something more sophisticated, like hacking into software repos for small shareware tools. If this is not getting you enough victims... (you see the pattern)

And try to keep up with Internet Criminal Economics!
Viruses that crash your system are so Yesterday!

Nowadays an Attacker takes great care that everything runs smoothly on your system. Some of the trojans even uninstall other trojans they find on your computer. This way you are much more likely to continue using your creditcard and logging into your Social Network.
These types of attack do not necessarily need to have deep access into your operating system. They run just fine from your normal user account - no Admin Password necessary.

(Oh - and no worms on OSX, because herding Botnets is so much easier done on pirated WindowsXP and old, unpatched Linux-Installations. It will be interesting to see what happens once Windows7 really takes on...)
 
Hm. Part of the reason I like Macs is because we don't have to continually install a million little things on them. The day we get a new machine in we put this on it:

iLife
iWork
Logic
Final Cut Studio
Wacom Intuos Driver
Adobe Master Collection
PhaseOne CaptureOne
Perian
Handbrake/VLC
VMWare Fusion
Win XP Pro (kept offline)
Autodesk Inventor

Does everything, smooth & reliable. Audio, Video, Photography, Graphics, Admin, Design.

From there on out, it's all productivity.
I never have to mess with the tools again.

...til someone drops their MBP out of a moving car.
 
In fact, the blog post from Sophos notes that nowhere in the Mac OS X 10.6.4 documentation does Apple announce this antimalware, leading to speculation by Sophos that Apple is simply trying to downplay security threats for marketing purposes and thus providing users with a false sense of security.

This is the most bizarre conclusion. This could only possibly be true if Apple was making this feature known, and marketing it as part of the main feature set of the OS. But they aren't. Nobody but the truly dedicated Apple fans and industry insiders even know about this. I actually forgot about it entirely. This can't possibly be called a false sense of security because the only people who know about it know it does a very tiny amount for security.

But frankly that tiny amount is fine with me. I wouldn't use anti-virus or similar software in the first place so it's infinitely more "protection" without any further effort on my part.
 
No, This approach can't work. You can't just compare a file to a short list of bad files. Malware is so easy to write. For example I could make a three line shell script and call it "free-porn-for-life" and then inside the scrip is a line to enable remote logins. It's nearly trivial to do and does not require any sophisticated "hacking". This trick is so old that Virgil wrote about it 2,000 years ago The idea is to give someone a gift but the gift is not what it appears to be.

The only way to defend against these is to do what the people of Troy should have done with that big horse, quarantine it and observe what what it does and examine it before trusting it. Comparing it to a short list will not work. Maybe that's what the Trojans did. Maybe they had a list and knew not to accept a giant wooden pigs or giant cows, but "horse" was not on the list so they took it.

In the article, someone wrote some malware but he tells people it is a pirated version of iPhoto. The fools think "man I can save $79!" and download it. Surprizing that Apple would bother to protect people from this.

I love the analogies, Chris--very nice!
 
Ever heard of a "new version" ? Honestly, this is kind of a dense comment.

Not really a dense comment at all. Why is it news that obtaining software from the internet in an illegal manner opens you up to the risk of malware. Anyone who actually believes in obtaining software legitimately would see no risk from this. I'm actually kind of surprised they go out of their way to protect people that are most likely pirating software.
 
This is the most bizarre conclusion. This could only possibly be true if Apple was making this feature known, and marketing it as part of the main feature set of the OS. But they aren't. Nobody but the truly dedicated Apple fans and industry insiders even know about this. I actually forgot about it entirely. This can't possibly be called a false sense of security because the only people who know about it know it does a very tiny amount for security.

But frankly that tiny amount is fine with me. I wouldn't use anti-virus or similar software in the first place so it's infinitely more "protection" without any further effort on my part.

I think he means that if they advertise they are including malware protection it shows that they are vulnerable to it to begin with. They advertise all the time that Macs don't get viruses, so if they suddenly released an OS that came with a 'virus scanner' then suddenly they don't seem so safe from viruses. You don't protect against things that aren't potential threats. If you do I could sell you some volcano insurance.
 
those of you who are saying things like "but if course if you download pirated software you can get malware instead" don't seem to realize that up until recently, that wasn't the case with mac software.

There just weren't any malware threats for OS X. Now there are.

Most people who get malware or trojans on Windows get them from pirated software or audio/video files. This has been the case since the "virus" scene moved on from primarily actual viruses and worms to trojans and malware, not coincidentally, when MS started getting tougher on security with the service packs for XP. The low-hanging fruit has mostly been picked from an actual security standpoint, so now the best way to spread your profit-generating nasty code is by duping people into clicking "install" on something they can't know the true contents of, or piggy-backing on an otherwise legitimate install.

I have yet to see an actual virus released that will propagate in a Windows 7 environment without user input. If a trojan isn't a virus, then there are no Win7 viruses.
 
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