Do Viruses Exist On Mac? I just wondered since this PC Virus Scan Pop-up opened and said i had 127 Viruses. My Computer hasn't shown signs of anything wrong.
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Do Viruses Exist On Mac?
- Thread starter Flameslash
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Yes, they are susceptible to trojans. It should be noted that the very few that exist are unbelievably rare, require people to enter their password or open strange files and do no damage.
So I agree but I don't want people to get the idea that trojans are a big problem on Mac.
1) By running something that installs one.
2) By not entering your administrator password when installing something from an untrusted source.
Don't worry about them. Don't run any antivirus software, unless you're transferring a lot of files from your Mac to other files.
Do Viruses Exist On Mac? I just wondered since this PC Virus Scan Pop-up opened and said i had 127 Viruses. My Computer hasn't shown signs of anything wrong.
and did this popup show that it was scanning C:\Windows while finding all these viruses...For the future it may be an idea to get ClamXav - and setup File Sentry to check your Downloads.
The warning you got was a fake warning on a website designed to trick Windows users into download anti virus software which is itself a trojan.
The current OS X trojans are found in a torrent of iWork '09, int he "keygen" of a torrent of Photoshop CS4, and on some porn sites which tell you to install a "codec" to view their videos.
Download Perian and Flip4Mac for Quicktime, or the VLC video player, and you will never have to download any other "codec."
ClamXAV only detects Windows threats.
The current OS X trojans are found in a torrent of iWork '09, int he "keygen" of a torrent of Photoshop CS4, and on some porn sites which tell you to install a "codec" to view their videos.
Download Perian and Flip4Mac for Quicktime, or the VLC video player, and you will never have to download any other "codec."
ClamXAV only detects Windows threats.
I would classify malware ( any bad software ) into two broad categories.
1) No or low intervention, sometimes called a Virus. These get into your system with little more than visiting a web page or being on the network. OSX has no known malware in this category. In the future I expect to start seeing some in this category as the number of Mac's increase. These are the main reason windows is such a problem, too much can and has breached IE and caused an infestation with little more than using IE.
2) High intervention, or Trojan's. These require that you do something to specifically help it along ( usually running an infected .pkg or bad .app ). They are out there for OSX, but are easy to guard against. You should be installing software only from known sources and be aware and skeptical for password requests from installers and applications. When in doubt don't enter your password.
I'm not going to say OSX is perfect, but a little common sense and you will be fine. No software should be necessary.
1) No or low intervention, sometimes called a Virus. These get into your system with little more than visiting a web page or being on the network. OSX has no known malware in this category. In the future I expect to start seeing some in this category as the number of Mac's increase. These are the main reason windows is such a problem, too much can and has breached IE and caused an infestation with little more than using IE.
2) High intervention, or Trojan's. These require that you do something to specifically help it along ( usually running an infected .pkg or bad .app ). They are out there for OSX, but are easy to guard against. You should be installing software only from known sources and be aware and skeptical for password requests from installers and applications. When in doubt don't enter your password.
I'm not going to say OSX is perfect, but a little common sense and you will be fine. No software should be necessary.
"Macs Arent Safer, Just a Smaller Target" (NYT - GadgetWise)
A timely warning from the New York Times:
When news like the rampaging Conficker virus hits, Mac users often feel a certain sense of comfort if not smug superiority knowing it doesnt affect them.
But just how relaxed (or smug) should Mac users be? Its true that very few viruses have been written for Macs and none are spreading actively right now. Similarly, hacker programs distributed by malicious Web sites typically run only on PCs.
Full article here
A timely warning from the New York Times:
When news like the rampaging Conficker virus hits, Mac users often feel a certain sense of comfort if not smug superiority knowing it doesnt affect them.
But just how relaxed (or smug) should Mac users be? Its true that very few viruses have been written for Macs and none are spreading actively right now. Similarly, hacker programs distributed by malicious Web sites typically run only on PCs.
Full article here
The simple argument is effort vs reward ... at the moment, writing a very well masking virus on windows means that they have the potential to infect millions and create massive and profitable bot-nets etc
The mac at the moment is a small market and therefore the rewards are not quite so massive ...
It isn't being ignored though and the recent iWork '09 and Photoshop CS4 trojans are going to continue to be the #1 vector for infection.
People like cheap/free software (pirated) and therefore are willing to get from the likes of PirateBay and install the cracks that come with them which in turn place nicely hidden services etc for nefarious uses
The mac at the moment is a small market and therefore the rewards are not quite so massive ...
It isn't being ignored though and the recent iWork '09 and Photoshop CS4 trojans are going to continue to be the #1 vector for infection.
People like cheap/free software (pirated) and therefore are willing to get from the likes of PirateBay and install the cracks that come with them which in turn place nicely hidden services etc for nefarious uses
This is absolute bull. Conflating simple application bugs with high-risk security holes that are found darn near weakly in windows is their mistake. Microsoft has attempted to do the same thing with Linux as well. Comparing the bug counts in an entire Linux distribution with it's security issues for the OS itself.
Every month I get emails from NYS about windows issues. Every month there is a new "critical" bug. These are the kind that allow "no or low interaction" malware to infest and propagate. These are the kind of holes that hackers exploit. January was a SMB hole that allowed a remote hacker *FULL SYSTEM ACCESS*.
I will agree that it is true, there is not an inherent security advantage of UNIX style permission over the VMS style of windows, but it's obvious that the implementation of OSX is more secure than windows at this point.
Do Viruses Exist On Mac? I just wondered since this PC Virus Scan Pop-up opened and said i had 127 Viruses. My Computer hasn't shown signs of anything wrong.
Most likely this is a website that tries to sell you fake virus protection software. You will get "127 viruses" no matter what computer you use to visit this site, Windows, Linux, MacOS X, XBox, iPhone or whatever. The thing is: They can't scan your computer for viruses from a website, unless some software is downloaded onto your computer, and MacOS X won't let them do that unless you type in your administrator password twice, in case it is a Trojan (Note: If they try to trick you into downloading a Windows Trojan, MacOS X will not prevent that from happening. On the other hand, that Windows Trojan wouldn't be able to run on your Macintosh and cause damage).
THERE ARE NO VIRUSES on OSX.
Giz Explains: Why OS X Shrugs Off Viruses Better Than Windows
http://i.gizmodo.com/5101337/giz-explains-why-os-x-shrugs-off-viruses-better-than-windows
The Mac Malware Myth
http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2009/01/29/the-mac-malware-myth/
The Unavoidable Malware Myth
http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2008/...-apple-wont-inherit-microsofts-malware-crown/
Road to Mac OS X Snow Leopard: 64-bit security
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/01/16/road_to_mac_os_x_snow_leopard_64_bit_security.html
Giz Explains: Why OS X Shrugs Off Viruses Better Than Windows
http://i.gizmodo.com/5101337/giz-explains-why-os-x-shrugs-off-viruses-better-than-windows
The Mac Malware Myth
http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2009/01/29/the-mac-malware-myth/
The Unavoidable Malware Myth
http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2008/...-apple-wont-inherit-microsofts-malware-crown/
Road to Mac OS X Snow Leopard: 64-bit security
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/01/16/road_to_mac_os_x_snow_leopard_64_bit_security.html
UNIX is more secure than Windows, but it's more down to its basic design than the permissions structure. OS X is also more secure than Windows, it's basically just a fancy GUI for UNIX with some extra features.
Most of the vulnerabilities in OS X that are reported are actually vulnerabilities in either Safari, or sometimes Quicktime - which are not part of the OS.
Whoa there. Let's back up. QuickTime is a part of the OS, as is WebKit. The front-ends for those two libraries (QuickTime Player/iTunes and Safari respectively) aren't part of the OS proper, but QuickTime and WebKit themselves are integral portions of Mac OS X.
Oops, you're right - Quicktime and WebKit are part of the OS.
Safari is the vector to the vulnerability (in WebKit), so by not using it, you significantly limit the chance of the vulnerability in WebKit being exploited (e.g. by using Safari to visit a malicious website.)
I say YES.
The floating around Trojan is spreading right now.
I would say its a malware, not virus, two days ago,
But since apple just came up with new ads in which it makes fun of a windows worm called conficker, and call it a "virus". I think its proper to follow apple's own standard and call malware as "virus"
Thus,
YES. There are viruses on Mac, right now, un-resolved.
And you know whats worse? the worse thing is that you dont know what to do with it!
Once you got infected, on PC, at least you know to download a free AV software to protect yourself. on Mac, what do you do? you dont know!
The floating around Trojan is spreading right now.
I would say its a malware, not virus, two days ago,
But since apple just came up with new ads in which it makes fun of a windows worm called conficker, and call it a "virus". I think its proper to follow apple's own standard and call malware as "virus"
Thus,
YES. There are viruses on Mac, right now, un-resolved.
And you know whats worse? the worse thing is that you dont know what to do with it!
Once you got infected, on PC, at least you know to download a free AV software to protect yourself. on Mac, what do you do? you dont know!