Is there anyone on this forum who has *not* come across this scareware yet? Or am I the only one?
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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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And yet a lot of people just stumble upon it like you find food in a kitchen. This is odd I must say. Are you UK based?
Haven't seen it yet either. Of course, I use Firefox with Adblock+ and noscript. Never use Safari.
In the US. I wonder if it's in a specific ad or something ... not really sure what to look for.
I have not experienced it anywhere - none of the Mac people I know has seen it anywhere ... I would assume most people on this forum have not seen it
It is not as wide spread as the news coverage implies ... It is all over the news since this usually does not happen on macs
Are you like me then, just researching on it? That's even more interesting that you're in the US. I don't *want* to get infected or anything, but I just can't find it. (Good I suppose).
Do you use a particular DNS service or your ISPs'? I am quite security conscious so don't actually see a lot of malware/viruses on the internet but am not sure if this has anything to do with it.
Maybe we're just lucky?
In all honesty this doesn't change a thing. Just install Sophos Antivirus (free for Mac) and forget the losers who try writing malware crap. The one thing I don't get is why MS hasn't already bought Symantec or some other security firm and fully integrated their security software to Windows.
Would be interesting to get some numbers how many people are actually infected and how many actually entered their credit card info. ... But I guess we will never find out.
http://www.linux.com/archive/feature/131059
While it is somewhat outdated, it doesn't detract the facts. I am going to say that ignorance or a false sense of security is not an excuse of not being vigilant of what you do and see in your computer.
I am not trying to say Macs are the easiest to hack despite Miller's comment that Macs are the easiest to hack or what has happened in the competition. Nor am I trying to say that Windows is more secure. I have no problem whatsoever using either system. Both of my computers are stable and fast.
"Possibly, too, for those who implement security, the operating system victory is less important than the fact that phishing and third-party applications were the keys to success, rather than general system vulnerabilities."
Again, I agree. But I guess that the majority of people not webwise enough to know that what they installed was bogus, wouldn't even know they were infected, unless they had a tech savvy person to help them.
LOL at the suggestion that Microsoft is behind this, kinda makes you wonder though, I mean hell I wouldn't even hold it against MS if they were behind this, if anything it'll help Apple be more vigilant about security.
And also Gates and Jobs do have major respect for one another, so it'd be funny if this was from MS as a kind of "banter" in a sense, lol
And also Gates and Jobs do have major respect for one another, so it'd be funny if this was from MS as a kind of "banter" in a sense, lol
I think what the flamers are trying to say albeit in an insulting way, is that Apple does take it seriously, which is why it has been inherently safer to this point. The fact that it's very difficult (but not impossible) for something to be installed on your system without user intervention on a Mac is a much more sensible solution than either the constant nagging or complete blocking that MS employs. I switched to Mac primarily because of the amount of time I spent on security patches and clicking through nag screens in Windows and I'm a data systems developer so I'm not exactly a novice with tech. One Windows machine I reloaded had spyware on it within 1/2 an hour of Windows being reinstalled from scratch. Quicker than I could download anti-virus software! As far as I'm aware that's not possible on a Mac - although I'm sure someone will correct me
Your view point is a fair one but I disagree with it and hopefully have explained why. I'm sorry you have got abuse for this post but some tech's can be very sensitive about their baby if they think you are dissing it, from my experience.
I haven't seen the MacDefender but MacKeeper uses a similarly unethical method to getting you to download their software with a pop-up that can only be removed without clicking OK by Force Quitting the browser.
Ah
Not quite. I can avoid it because I'm a sysadmin who knows better. I've been hired to try and remove it should it hit a "important persons" system.
But the end users, rank and file believe this stuff comes from "us" so it must be safe. We tell them again and again but they're just being socialized to do it by other sources.
Like I said, they need "internet street smarts".
And that is why the problem will spread like wildfire on OSX. People like you and your co-workers simply can't avoid it.
Seriously, how silly must you be to fall through all these safe guards:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0YoefS-Mv8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMZ0F0HNGGM
Not quite. I can avoid it because I'm a sysadmin who knows better. I've been hired to try and remove it should it hit a "important persons" system.
But the end users, rank and file believe this stuff comes from "us" so it must be safe. We tell them again and again but they're just being socialized to do it by other sources.
Like I said, they need "internet street smarts".
Sigh
It's too bad they insist on including the flawed feature "temporary internet files" which is how most viruses get a toehold on PC systems. Look, it's 2011 and dial up and modems are mostly history. The malware pushes itself to the temporary internet files location and forces it to run. That's how. I'd like to see their reasoning for keeping this un-needed feature. It used to be it was used to store frequently accessed web content so you didn't have to pull it down again over a slow dial-up connection. This is 2011 and I have a 20 megabit connection. Why do we need this again?
It's too bad they insist on including the flawed feature "temporary internet files" which is how most viruses get a toehold on PC systems. Look, it's 2011 and dial up and modems are mostly history. The malware pushes itself to the temporary internet files location and forces it to run. That's how. I'd like to see their reasoning for keeping this un-needed feature. It used to be it was used to store frequently accessed web content so you didn't have to pull it down again over a slow dial-up connection. This is 2011 and I have a 20 megabit connection. Why do we need this again?
Apple should make a more lasting update... Apple isn't as good as I thought at this. Maybe it is too dangerous for my father to buy a Mac.
I said secure, not invincible. Look at Windows security and compare it to Mac security. Also, don't worry, I'm always vigilant for scams, especially online (where Mac or Windows doesn't matter)
And I do believe that Macs cannot get viruses, meaning ones that can copy themselves, open automatically, and spread in ways a (normal) user cannot see. Macs are not immune to malware; I, in fact, made a few Mac traps that lock the screen and stuff to prank my friends. Look in /System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/AppleVNCServer.bundle/Contents/Support, and you will find an app that will lock the screen, and it can only be unlocked by restarting or SSH killing it. In the meantime, you could have something running that is messing up their files, especially if it gets their password before opening.
Not that I'd do this, but I know it can happen
Not seen this yet
While I am aware of this being a problem, I have yet to find a website that has the "scary popups" because I tend to go to my trusted site list so I am not likely to encounter this. In addition I do not think this sort of thing would work against the iPad and that is the device that I use of late to surf the web.
While I am aware of this being a problem, I have yet to find a website that has the "scary popups" because I tend to go to my trusted site list so I am not likely to encounter this. In addition I do not think this sort of thing would work against the iPad and that is the device that I use of late to surf the web.
I think the way to find this is click on Google ads that say "Download for Free" on download sites. I sometimes click them by mistake, get pushed to a scam site, then go back and hit the real download button