Comments on: Yet another reason why Macs need security software

Analyst Jon Oltsik says data shows why Apple users shouldn't consider themselves immune.

[kenberger]

Why are you trying to sell security software? Having had a minimum of 20 Macs online virtually full time for the last two years (and many more than that over the last 8 + years) and never a single issue with security! My Sun and Linux boxes do better than my windows boxes (problems a few years ago with being hacked) but not as good as m Macs.

During the same time ALL my windows boxes (3-4 depending when) have had problems and needed to be totally reformatting and ground up installs to make them work properly during he same time period.

When there is a real problem i.e. examples of real people having been attacked or such on Mac's I will take action to prevent it. But these scare tactics are shameful.

Write a story about someone who had a real security problem with a Mac you can't because it doesn't happen - THAT WOULD BE NEWS.
You can't write that story about windows because IT WOULD NOT BE NEWS - EVERYONE KNOW THAT SORY.

[greho]

Err.. guys? Guys? HEY GUYS!!

If you can stop bashing long enough to tie some threads together, shall we recall:

<< The variants have been found inside bogus copies of iWork ?09 and Adobe Photoshop CS4 which were shared on the popular p2p torrent network. The author of the malware downloaded the original/trial versions of each program and introduced a copy of the malicious binary into the packages. Users who then downloaded and installed the applications from the torrent download would have been infected. It is estimated that thousands of people have downloaded the infected torrent files. They describe this as the ?first real attempt to create a Mac botnet? and notes that the zombie Macs are already being used for nefarious purposes. >>

The first wet-your-pants outbreak in ages was from pirated software. And mostly failed because pirated software is not effective as a large-scale transmission vector. And smart users do not download software that they know is pirated for THIS VERY REASON. Socially engineered trojan payloads have been around since before Napster, for crying out loud.

Jon Oltsik references this laughable outbreak here: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10234535-83.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1009_3-0-20

The malware was found by "Malware hunters at Symantec" who wrote their article in Virus Bulletin. I am not maligning VB by any stretch, it's a great publication. But Symantec stoked some of this fire. And, oh look! The first all-new version of Norton Antivirus in FIVE YEARS is only recently released. All I'm saying is, Symantec found it and conveniently has a cure for it? Hmmm.

Also, as it says at the bottom of every blog entry of his: "Jon Oltsik is a senior analyst at the Enterprise Strategy Group. He is not an employee of CNET."

Let's just remember that Mr. Oltsik is paid to write these things, which is fine. But is he merely part of the PC security-industrial complex? I don't yet know.

I do know that when PCs under my care get hit by malware of any sort, the ONLY viable solution is a clean install. Malware is too smart and persistent to be "cleaned" by any Antiviral software. Even aggressive AV cleaning tools can leave you with a potentially weakened and damaged system. Those tools buy you time to backup data before the wiping begins.

The only thing AV software can do is, possibly, keep malware out. Other than drive-by infections or complete firewall failure, most infections are the fault of the user doing something very stupid.

The most useful tool for Mac users would be a tool like Microsoft's Malicious Software Removal Tool that could alert unknowing users to the fact that they are infected by any of these well-known, in the wild packages. Then the Mac user can do just what the Windows user has been forced to do in recent times: initiate a nuke-and-reinstall.

Everything else in the AV world exists to make us feel better about ourselves. I use AV software on all my systems, without exception, mainly to stop drive-by and e-mail attacks. I stop myself from downloading questionable material. That's called discipline, and you can't get it from Symantec at any price.

[Maximus_000]

You people have way too much time to waste... I see total waste of bandwidth in the discussion between mac vs pc...OSX vs XP or vista etc...
the fact is every operating system has some pros and some cons ... and you decide what suites you in the given environment.... I may choose OSX someday and might be inclined towards Windows solely based upon my needs at the given time....

P.S I agree that MAC users need security but the way this article tells "why they need security" doesnt have a convincing point.

[Slik1956]

Chill dudes! It's all just ones,and zero's ! To each his,or her, own preference.(a windoz fan)

[TheHFactor]

I'll buy some sort of anti-virus or security software... when there is something for it to protect against. 'Vulnerabilities" can be any number of things, sometimes in components that most users don't use (i.e. the vuln in BIND some years ago, when non-server OS X doesn't use BIND unless someone flips it on).

Is it possible that a virus might one day exist for the Mac? Sure. Do any exist now? no. These "security software" programs as far as I can tell don't do anything.... and virus software needs a virus definition to catch anything; so they won't do any good against something new, and certainly no Mac "security software" will patch or stop buffer overflows or whatever unpatched problem people are finding.

I recommend this article for tips on reading Mac security stories:

http://db.tidbits.com/article/10218

[hoopla]

Thorough coverage of this topic would have really looked into the data and issues more, thus leading to a more informed conversation in these comments. This is a blog, however, so I suppose standards can't be too high.

I would ask that anyone who hasn't actually done extensive work with a system not comment on it. There are plenty of people who use both Windows and Mac (and often Unix/Linux) who can actually provide valuable insight instead.

[davrosthedalek]

Macs are perfect they need zero updates or security software. Just plug and go.

[Chiatzu]

Okay, it's OS X, not OSX as I see everywhere. Is the Windows OS written WindowsXP or WindowsVIsta or Windows7? No. If you're going to bash OS X then write it right, peeps.

Is _any_ OS 100% secure? Maybe, but that's one that is locked down with one key in a vault and isn't connected to the Internet or another network. You get my point.

"Clearly Windows is the biggest target but the Mac installed base is too juicy and exposed for the cyber bad guys to ignore."

My God, Jon. I can't believe I read that from someone writing about Mac security, but it's there on the screen for all to read. That's been my argument for years and you laid it down squarely. If the Macs were a tasty target they _would be a tasty target,_ regardless of whatever percentage of market share Windows enjoyed from the "I'm a free PC" masses. Thank you for saying it and realizing criminals are criminals, not morally guided members of the OS elites who only choose a target based on market share and wait for a certain time to strike. If a thief sees an open unguarded door, that thief will probably walk through it and steal something. And if that thief steals CC information from one Mac and uses that information to steal a couple thousand dollars of stuff, why is that not worth their time if they can do it on a small but lucrative number of machines? The average thief probably isn't looking to win the lottery every time they do their criminal deeds. People give common criminals and thieves too much credit (no pun) where none is due.

[Garken]

Randomwalk, you are the idiot ! All he is saying is that most Mac users don't believe they need security software because there are no viruses for OSX. this of course is false, they do exist and more will come. Macs can be hacked faster than Windows machines if people choose to do so ! It has been proven. Keep on putting ur fanboy head in the sand if you like, but one day you will wake up to a nasty surprise.

[ihfwt]

I've been saying for years that it just a question of time, as the MAC user base grows they will become targets. And as long Mac users remain smug and ignorant the "bad guys" will have a field day.In light of the recent botnet created by Mac users downloading torrents for some "i" program which contained a trojan. If this doesn't burst their "bubble" I don't know what will.

[wieser100]

To me macs are worthless not because they make a poor machine but because i dont have a store to go to near me so i can look at one even if i did want one.The nearest retailer for macks is over 125 miles away.No one who is sane is going to by a mac when the only time they have seen them is either in a school or on tv.he only reason macs dont get attacked is that there are so few of them that its not worth the effort.The hackers shoud realize that mac users probably are wealthier than the average windows or linux user

[wieser100]

I just wonder what the ratio of windows machines to macs is,200 or 300 windows machines for every mac