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General discussion

OS X - vulnerability to viruses ?

Mar 27, 2008 4:51AM PDT

I'm sitting here with a cold, so I'm not invulnerable. Wink

Anyway, I just got through reading some comments from a chap named studiotropico who was determined to argue that apple has a crippling defect when it comes to viruses. I think this person was put off in part, by the stereotypical apple fanboy cliche that apples are perfect and invulnerable to viruses - I say cliche because I really don't see too many out there saying apples are perfect compared to other OS. I think those folks with some small knowledge of computers know that macs can be jammed up with a virus. It is just much more difficult for an apple to catch one.

What has always made a computer virus so insidious is the fact that it sneaks up on you, without your knowledge. Windows machines are open to picking up viruses for a variety of reason, most common of which is simply because most of their programs will automatically run bits of hidden code embedded in a variety of files... emails, multimedia, activeX files, etc... that can gain immediate gain access to the OS, and make changes. Apples are not impervious to outside programs making changes to it's Operating System. However, because of the mac OS design, any code that can actually change the OS must be installed by the owner of the computer. Simply put, if you don't trust the software, then don't download and install it. There is no guarantee this will remain true, but for right now, I believe I have been factually accurate.

Question for those who are more technologically knowledgeable than I am...

The word on the street is that you have to install a virus yourself, to get OS X infected. Does this mean you actually have to put in the administrative pass word to install this malware or is there some other scenario that would cause an apple to get infected by the handful of OS X viruses that are out there?

In other words... what is the exact, step by step scenario of how an apple computer would get infected by a virus. I think knowing this might comfort those of us who are unsure about how this stuff works, and what dangerous behaviors we should be mindful of, as we go about our daily computer tasks.

Thanks for any input !

grim

Discussion is locked

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I see
Apr 14, 2008 12:02PM PDT

Interest may be a part of it, but difficulty plays a factor as well. Maybe it would spread quickly, like you suggest, but it may not either.

You know, it only depends. Most people rely on Intel, or AMD, chipsets. Now that Macs use them, it would be somewhat easier to write viruses for Macs, but this is where PowerPC Macs may become useful. I don't see people scripting their viruses as Universal Binary. The majority of Mac users rely on Intel Macs now, I believe, and the number of PowerPC users is declining. Those Macs are still very good in their own right, and should the virus be Intel-only, as more OS X-related things are becoming, PowerPC could live a little longer. My G4 performs very well on Leopard for an old iMac barely meeting the requirements. Safari and Office 2008 run fine. I could use it over an Intel machine to avoid viruses and be okay. It does everything I would use it for, even if it is a little slower. Speed for security isn't that bad of a tradeoff. But, I wouldn't want any Intel Macs to be infected. Knowing Apple, they'd crack down on the security problems almost immediately, or at least, we'd like to believe that. Apple hasn't gone through this with OS X before, so they'd be put to the test.

-BMF

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Anti-Virus Software for OS X
Apr 14, 2008 12:31PM PDT

I forgot to mention that even though only a handful of Mac users actually use an AV program, what good would come from it? We don't exactly know how the program(s) would respond in the case of a new, real threat to OS X. If it is caught early enough, the programs could be updated to stop it, but that may not happen.

For all we know, these attempts at protecting the system might give the AV users a false sense of security. I may be wrong, but I would think that these things would not work as well when compared to their Windows counterparts, where real viruses exist for tests and studies. That's why companies can sell AV for Windows. It works on the system that is regularly attacked and actually offers a form of protection that we know can work. Apple needs to nail this issue to prevent OS X from becoming the next victim. They may have already and we might not know. Time will tell.

-BMF

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Viruses and Flash
Apr 11, 2008 1:54PM PDT

Of course there was a recent Quickbooks update that would wipe out whatever you had on your desktop... files, icons... kinda like a virus... and from a reputable software company! People who had the "Update Automatically" preference checked, got a very nasty morning when they opened Quickbooks. Their desktop files were gone. That problem was fixed rather fast by Quickbooks, but those that lost files... lost everything... unrecoverable loss.

A big problem has to be Flash. Did you know that Flash can access your computer camera and microphone as well as store information on your computer? Yeah, every once in a while you need to check your settings on the Adobe Flash Settings Manager website:
http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/settings_manager02.html

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anything is possible and it will only get worse
Apr 12, 2008 11:18AM PDT

I have a theory myself now.... just like for windows pcs today, a hacker will install a virus onto hardware or software at a factory, and when the user installs the hardware or installs the drivers or some other software.... BAM!!! all of this could happen and you might never know, in fact it may never even be discovered.

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Macs are not Affected to any Virus..
Apr 12, 2008 8:24PM PDT
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there have been major deveopments in mac viruses
Apr 13, 2008 9:51AM PDT

and just because there arent any today doesnt mean there wont be one tomorrow. just like back in the mid 1990's, when a pc user could never imagine a malicious program taking over their machine.

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os X
Apr 16, 2008 2:41PM PDT

hai this is working as the project enginer in MNC....i would like to know about the os X which u have mentioned.....what does it mean?..
is itX version of XP os..or any other...

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@rajesh_gec
Apr 16, 2008 8:36PM PDT

@rajesh_gec

LoL..

follow the weblink...

Please read the topic b4 asking such a silly question