Until I hear of something that will install itself automatically with no warning and **** around with the deepest recesses of the system, denying me access to myriad ways of potentially disabling it (as I've encountered several times on Windows) I don't see a genuine security threat out there.
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New Variant of 'Mac Defender' Quickly Evades Apple's Security Update as Cat-and-Mouse Game Begins
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Hmmmm...Let me see if I remember well...Avira...AVG, Avast, Panda, Norton...or maybe you'd use Zone Alarm instead...or Comodo...McAfee ( I would recomend it because the name. You know Mac...McAfee...maybe you feel more confortable with it 
). But you've got to remember that you have to use an antispyware and a good firewall, just in case. So I would recomend a good suite. They call them "internet securities" I think...But remember: YOU HAVE TO SCAN YOUR MAC FROM TIME TO TIME AND HAVE TO KEEP YOUR ANTIVIRUS UPDATE!! Well, now you can sleep tight...if you can
). But you've got to remember that you have to use an antispyware and a good firewall, just in case. So I would recomend a good suite. They call them "internet securities" I think...But remember: YOU HAVE TO SCAN YOUR MAC FROM TIME TO TIME AND HAVE TO KEEP YOUR ANTIVIRUS UPDATE!! Well, now you can sleep tight...if you can 
hate to tell you this but over 90% of windows Malware falls in the same category.
I said it in another thread things are going to get a lot worse for Apple from here as Mac Defender is just the beginning big time since we alreayd have seen multiple variants of it and more will keep spring from it.
It works this way in the windows world is a lot of the malware can be traced back down to a small handful of bases and they are variants based on it.
In a very short time span we have had 3 new malware hits on Apple. All based on the same base code but 3 different ones and it will keep growing from here.
The days of Apple is immune are over. The problem with OSX is the false sense of security and that sense of security needs to go.
Most users still think OSX can not get "viruses" and in that since it is very false. Remember to the common person Virus = any type of malware.
Yes, I've seen several corrupted registries which have prevent boot up on various flavors of Windows including Win7 before.
Google it if you like.
Here's some links: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-performance/windows-7-will-not-boot-says-registry-is-corrupt/83602110-e6ba-4281-8b13-622823adaed1
"Any longtime Microsoft Windows user knows that a single corrupt registry entry can kill an entire Windows installation. " http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/window-on-windows/repair-your-corrupted-windows-registry-file-the-easy-way/1165
The Registry contains vital system settings that if corrupted will basically make Windows unusable and cripple it to death.
A registry is not valid if it contains evil data. Plists can be easily removed and will only effect the specific app its associated with versus the registry which is essentially a big database. Take down the database and you effect the whole vs one small plist causality thats easily fixed by trashing a >4k file.
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Good for you!
trunten said:
Good for you!
In terms of Mac security, one of the things to be most careful about is still the user's behaviour. Good article on keeping a Mac secure and things a user themselves should not be doing and some prevention they might want to take. A lot of the stuff is nothing new, but the Mac Defender issue does bring the issue to the forefront.
Like others have said, Apple's marketing message that Macs are secure may have lulled users into a sense that they don't have to do a single thing about security, but there are some basic rules and actions to consider.
Had a friend once who said he logged onto his online banking all the time at the cafe shop and therefore, he didn't have to worry because he was also using a Mac. Told him about the common practice of people within the area of a cafe shop creating there own wireless network with the same name or similar name as a coffee shop's network, and then capturing all the members internet traffic.
His response was, "Oh... that's sneaky". Yeah, hackers are sneaky. While OS X is very secure, sometimes tricking the user is not that hard.
Like others have said, Apple's marketing message that Macs are secure may have lulled users into a sense that they don't have to do a single thing about security, but there are some basic rules and actions to consider.
Had a friend once who said he logged onto his online banking all the time at the cafe shop and therefore, he didn't have to worry because he was also using a Mac. Told him about the common practice of people within the area of a cafe shop creating there own wireless network with the same name or similar name as a coffee shop's network, and then capturing all the members internet traffic.
His response was, "Oh... that's sneaky". Yeah, hackers are sneaky.
While OS X is very secure, sometimes tricking the user is not that hard.
There's a big different between a self propagating virus to a trojan that you have to download then manually install by authorizing installation.
again go back and read what I said....
over 90% of the malware on windows falls in the exact same catigory as Mac Defender (aka trojan- manually install)
Also to the common person virus = malware of any type.
I never said the term virus was being used correctly but the common person view of what it means.
Basically, some people are trying to blame anyone but themselves for falling for Nigerian scam.
hate to tell you this but there are many many more windows malware. Perhaps you missed basic math courses.
Mac OS X = 1 strand of trojan
Mac OS X = no virus
Windows = many more trojans
Windows = infinitely more viruses (compared to Mac OS X)
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Bummer. I was hoping you'd actually been on the campus.
Amory said:
Bummer. I was hoping you'd actually been on the campus.
Sure theres more. But what he is saying is that OS X is just as vulnerable (actually more since theres no safe guards and it automatically downloads and opens the malware for you on OS X/Safari) as Windows is to these attacks because just like in Windows, these are social exploits versus OS exploits.
On the Windows side there are safeguards to protect from these types of malware though.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0YoefS-Mv8
Pre-Windows 7
Microsoft OS gave the default user superuser privileges and trojans could auto install.
Win 7 follows the least privilege model thats been in *NIX since the beginning so its tougher to crack (though the registry is still an issue).
I wouldn't say 90% are trojans, thats too high of a figure.
Incorrectly using the term doesn't help the situation.
Microsoft OS gave the default user superuser privileges and trojans could auto install.
Win 7 follows the least privilege model thats been in *NIX since the beginning so its tougher to crack (though the registry is still an issue).
I wouldn't say 90% are trojans, thats too high of a figure.
Incorrectly using the term doesn't help the situation.
umm OSX has multiple strands of trojans. They have been posted here on this site more than once.
Trojans go threw the biggest security hole in the OS. The user. They just are starting to do more and more damage and getting really wide spread.
I never was making the claims you are or trying to counter. I read things post like that in response to the basic facts I posted as someone who does not like the fact that OSX is thing all great and mighty.
In the past 10 years I have never once gotten a virus/trogan on my computer unless I the user was doing testing stupid stuff in a and even then I had it in a walled off area for a test bed. Only once has it gotten out and again it was my fault and I knownly installed it on there to test somethings and I screwed up in wall it off from rest of the system but it was fairly easy to go in and clean it up and the AV program prevented it from running. Just was a mess having to clean up the autorun files.
The adware dropped like a rock once I switch over to firefox from doing weekly scanned and grabbing stuff to near zero and all that it would pick up over the years was cookies.
Parents windows computer in same time span had ZERO of anything infect their computer.
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I guess the only way to solve the malware problem is to go the route of iOS. It would be nice if there was a way a user who needed to could bypass the Mac App Store, though - something the average user wouldn't notice/ know how to do.
I guess the only way to solve the malware problem is to go the route of iOS. It would be nice if there was a way a user who needed to could bypass the Mac App Store, though - something the average user wouldn't notice/ know how to do.
Auto run would require it being on a flash drive and even then not aways work. Autorun would not download a file from the net unless you the user told it to open on install.
go look it up. 90% trojans is about the right figure. You have about 8% worms and around 2% true viruses.
Also goes back to not may fault the media and the common person believes "virus"= malware.
Malware is the correct catch all term. I know that and it seems you know that but you need to accept for the non technically minded person Virus=malware.
Not necessary or feasible, as there are many apps that you'll never see on the Mac App Store, because the developer doesn't want to pay Apple a percentage. The solution is to exercise caution when choosing and installing software, no matter what source.
Authorizing an installation that you didn't deliberately initiate is not being careful or knowledgeable. MacDefender is 100% preventable with prudent user action.
I never said that wasn't the case. However, the Windows viruses that remain in the wild can infect a system without the user's knowledge or permission. Such a threat doesn't exist in the wild for Mac OS X.
Like every other OS, Mac OS has never been immune. Nothing has changed.
The only false sense of security is held by those who have selective hearing or reading and choose to ignore common sense. The only security current Mac OS X needs is a user being prudent in their actions.
That is not false, as no viruses exist in the wild for Mac OS X to "get".
... which is false, of course. The problem isn't the OS. The problem is, and always has been, the user being uninformed, misinformed or careless.
My Dad installed Mac Defender on his Mac by mistake. He's not "stupid," he's just your typical computer user. When something pops up, you hit okay.
If you know enough and care about Apple that reading MacRumors.com is of interest to you, then you probably won't install this thing. But as for your average person? You might.
If you know enough and care about Apple that reading MacRumors.com is of interest to you, then you probably won't install this thing. But as for your average person? You might.
You want to help your dad? Tell him to remember this rule: When something "pops up":
- THINK
- THINK
- THINK
- Act.
if the world virus is in quotations marks I am using it as a term the common person believe a virus is.
Apple advertising no viruses is technically correct Apple marketing back in the day knew that most people believe virus = malware.
So when the common person things OSX can not get "viruses" the false belief is
OSX can not get any malware.
In that sense then yes the term I was using was correct as Mac Defender is in the wild and people clearly are getting it. You broke up the quote incorrectly.
I have found as a whole OSX users tend to be much more careless in what they install due to that false sense of security. Windows users have had years of it beaten into them do not install unknown programs or open unknown files. Something OSX users do not seem to follow as well.
Like you said the best defense no matter what the OS is USE YOUR HEAD.
Your first link is a single report from someone who probably has a serious hardware problem.
Since the persistent store for the registry is a transaction logged set of files on the local hard drive, clearly if the hardware is failing all bets are off.
The second link is to a registry "cleaner", and a quick web search finds things like:
That's a handy utility....
____________________________
The registry is extremely reliable. If it gets bad data in it, is that really any different than a plist with bad data?
The registry has a number of advantages over text files:
- The registry is a transaction logged database - no need to worry if there's a power failure while modifying it
- Items in the registry are strongly typed - you can't enter text when a number is expected
- Keys in the registry have full ACLs (access control lists) - you can let the user control some entries (e.g. which screen saver to use) but not others (e.g. disable screen saver or change the timeout)
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That's exactly right.
Posting on a technical forum does not violate any employment agreement . Now, if I leaked internal information then yes it would. I work for AppleCare as tech support! I don't even find out about new Apple stuff until everyone else.
I have been to Cupertino, but can only get into Cafe Macs...lol.
Ah
Where I work several people a day get his with this crap on Windows. You can't avoid it and most people aren't clueful enough about task manager to kill it.
Where I work several people a day get his with this crap on Windows. You can't avoid it and most people aren't clueful enough about task manager to kill it.
No props to anybody who creates SH%$% like that and Apple is tightening up, hence the updates.
They will figure this out IMO even up to a point where they will even send some police or whoever handles this authority to catch these people.
Someplace somebody picks up the money. They'll be there.
Go James Bond
You can't. It's mostly the russian mafia but there are other parties. You won't catch them. This has been running rampant on the windows side for several years now with hundreds of different variants. There are little malware toolkits that will build these apps for you that are point and click enabled. You could be a total script kiddie and create one.