Mac vs PC running Linux

[Corny]

Corny, now you've got ME confused, because the page you sent me profiles a worm—the same worm that I have already mentioned! There's been a patch out for it for years. Directly from the page:

Oops you are right. I wonder why they call it a worm? I remember quite well that when it was discovered it was NOT called a worm, because it cannot infect a machine without user help - you need to execute a file, and that usually is how virii/trojans spread.

[edit]
well - let's take this one instead
http://blog.trendmicro.com/mac-trojan-hidden-beneath-pirated-iwork-09/

 

[Corny]

Good one, Corny. That's what they get for using pirated software.

Ah well .. it's working quite good for windows viruses, no wonder they are trying it for macs, too

Corny, I decided to listen to you, and do some homework on my own. Here's a real-life virus; to be fair, it's only a proof-of-concept virus, with no known infections:

http://www.macworld.com/article/53737/2006/11/macarena.html

There are a few more of those, and a lot of security holes found that no viruses were written for.

Corny, I've read here and there that the Unix underpinnings make viruses inherently more difficult to write for both Linux and OSX; is this true? Of course, the simple fact that we Macusers and Linuxusers are "small potatoes" is our biggest antivirus strength.

Difficult but not impossible. There are some more linux viruses out there, specifically targeted at servers (also called "rootkits") - if you get one of those, they are really hard to detect (and clean).

Folks, use some common sense on the Internet, Macuser or not: don't download just anything you find on the net (always consider the source), and be careful with your emails. I still think AV for the Mac is overkill at this point.

Something I would not recommend anyone who doesn't know what he is doing, but:
I don't even use a virus scanner on my windows machine, and so far (except one nasty adware that "legally" came with a freeware I installed) never had any problems
I don't count the one time where I had the original backorifice - because a buddy of mine whom I trusted deliberately gave me an infected file to screw with me.
I got back at him with sub7 a few months later

 

[hermanding]

unclean, I think this old saying is true -
Windows has never been quite as bad as Mac users say it is, and Mac has never been quite as good as Mac users say it is.
But, it is quite a product. I hope you will enjoy it
ding

 

[Corny]

So why do I need to press command-q or click through the menu if I want to exit an application? Why does closing the window usually not work?
Oh well .. it does work for the calculator for example .. why does it work there suddenly?
Why are there 3-4 different methods to install a new (downloaded) program?
Why are some files not always associated with the same program?
I know the answers to those questions, but do you think any new user would know them anymore than he would know some windows irks?
Ever tried troubleshooting network problems on a mac? The GUI won't help you a little bit (thank god there is the console).
Get out of your distortion field guys Most of the time it's the programs that cause your problems, not really the OS. Every OS has it up and downsides, and even a mac has those.
And in reality most mac users know it. They just want to continue to be the elitist users they see themselves as. And probably that's why the reaction to the new MS ad is so hilarious

Let's be serious again .. place a absolute computer newbie in front of a mac, a completely configured windows or linux machine. The results will be about the same.
Yes, I have done all three of those. The linux machine will give them problems as soon as they want to change more than simple settings. Which is not always a bad thing
The great advantage of the mac is that no matter what mac stuff you buy it will most likely work - because there is only a very limited (compared to PCs) and thus well tested supply of hardware. The downside? As all mac stuff it's ridiculously expensive - where we would be back at to that ad (And yes, I know the errors they made in it. The basic message is still right).

 

[Corny]

I honestly predict an official church to be registered within the next 5 years

(I have a bet running)

 

[Corny]

but it's not recognized as a church anywhere - unlike the church of satan for instance

 

[DonQuixote]

I'm nowhere near the level of techno-geek that you folks are. I am an old fart who started out in DOS land w/5.25" floppy drives on the PC. I happened to see PabloZed's plea for some help in picking out a new computer, be it Mac or PC.

Part of that discussion sounded similar to a lot of the "no virus" discussion here - I'm glad the more professional members have set that straight.

For whatever it's worth, I thought I'd paste the contents of an e-mail I got from my A/V supplier - PC doctor. I admit it, I have 3 Dell laptops of recent vintage and two Dell Dimension Desktops of older vintage to my personal ownership, plus having been raised from dumb terminals to PC's in my work environs. I could have gone the Mac route, but by the time they were a presence, I was used to knowing what was underneath the hood w/ DOS vs. Win 2.11 or 3.1, etc., so I've stuck with Windows, for good or ill - and I have definitely joined Corny in some of my BLUE language around Vista and compatability. I get to delve into Unix land as an enduser, and am also playing a little as a power user with SQL Server based on work apps. I can say I've coded C, C++, Java based on playing with the above, but that would be a stretch - technically true, but a gross misrepresentation at the same time.

But, as I said, for whatever it is worth to you in the Mac environs, here is information from PC Doctor - I am not an expert, I merely pass it on to you so you can determine whether it is genuine, and if so, what your personal risk of Mac attack from "risky computing" is.

Re: Mac Botnet attacks -- As I mentioned, I use PC Doctor Suite of A/V, Anti-malware, etc. I received this e-mail from them April17th.

I'm not selling their product - though I do use it. This wasn't the first time I'd heard of Mac viruses, though. WHAM 1180 Radio has SoundBytes, a Sunday AM call-in show (it's available on the web, too). The hosts include a Systems Manager from Rochester Institute of Technology, which has a large PC AND Mac installed base on campus -- between the Engineering and the Imaging/Press schools, they have a large graphics artists element in addition to Computer Engineering (and all the other engineerings, the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, too), and the proprietors of the local Mac store, so there's a seasoned PC base and a big love affair for Macs - and I believe they've mentioned viruses starting to hit Macs on the show in the past.

Here's the text of the e-mail. I make no representations about it, other than I believe it did come from who it says it is, and they are a responsible maker of Anti-Virus, Anti-Malware, Shredding, etc. products.

PC Tools
From: updates@email.pctools.com
Reply to: css.reply@pctools.com


Mac Threat Alert Know anyone that's a Mac User?

Then let them know that malware researchers have discovered what appears to be the first Mac OSX botnet, aka MacBot or iBotnet and its receiving a substantial amount of industry and media interest.

Early estimates suggest that thousands of people have unknowingly downloaded the infected files. Don't let yourself be one of them...

In a nutshell the botnet is launching a number of malware variants inside pirated copies of popular Mac based software in order to take control of the infected Mac machine.

First and foremost make sure that you and your fellow Mac users, exercise caution, have Mac specific security software installed and that your existing version of iAntiVirus is up to date - there's a free version or you can purchase a version with full functionality and support for only $29.95. It's also vital that you enable and install the latest Mac security updates.
Regards
PC Tools Team

Note: PC Tools is offering a Free version to scan your Mac. IF it finds something, it then allows you to purchase the software in order to actually clean your system. But, they are real, not a come on.

I hope I'm not violating any of the JUB tenants with this info, since it could be construed as selling - which I'm definitely not. I was just pointing out that Macs are not as completely immune to attacks as people have come to believe.

And, I'm not dissing your well loved Macs. I am just trying to provide you with current information you may not be aware of. As I mentioed in the precursor post to this in the other thread, perhaps this is Apples' penance for switching from Motorola RISC processors to Intel. I certainly don't know.

 

[Corny]

As posted in the other thread - legally obtained software for other OS is usually clean, too. That argument does not work

 

[PabloZed]

A product is not "fundamentally flawed" because it was not altered to address every future attack. An intelligent person might even consider that the product would have never gained a dominant marketshare if it had been altered.

Mac users find themselves in about the same position as someone who still uses Windows98. You are not getting attacked constantly because no one is targeting you. Only a fool would conclude that Windows98 must be a better system because no one is paying attention to it.