Macs are safe from viruses! Not so much...

[JoeT]

Perhaps Apple will include this in the next Mac vs. PC commercial? :laugh2:


http://www.internetnews.com/security/article.php/3788241/Apple+Recommends+Antivirus+for+Mac+Users.htm

[jjvaldez]

i cant believe this, this SUCKS

[psylichon]

I didn't want to be the first to post it. :tounge:

Probably has a lot to do with this:

http://www.tuaw.com/2008/12/01/mac-internet-share-hits-record-8-87/

But yeah, welcome to the real world of online computing. You wanted the market share, didn't ya?

[JoeT]

Heh - my thoughts exactly. I've long held that the Mac has benefited from "security by obscurity" -- once the obscurity is gone.......

[Napoleon_PhoneApart]

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/12/03/apple_pulls_support_note_recommending_antivirus_so ftware.html

[JoeT]

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/12/03/apple_pulls_support_note_recommending_antivirus_so ftware.html


(Bursting out in fits of laughter)

That's just tooooooo good.

I really hope that MS puts out a "PC vs. Mac" ad with two Mac guys (twins) saying "We need virus protection!" and "No, we don't!" and continuing to argue while the PC guy smirks. The text/voiceover at the end says, "Just a little reality TV..."

[TarekElsakka]

What the hell? All that time I thought Macintosh was always free of viruses and the highest in security. Especially since I have never experienced any kinds of threats or virus attacks on my Mac.

[JoeT]

Nope. Windows has always had more viruses because of it's infinitely higher adoption rate and low priority for security back in the day. Now that's changing - with Windows getting more and more locked down, attention will change to other targets, and the more successful Apple is at getting market share, the more effort will be made to write malware for OSX. Just a fact of life.

[up10ad]

This whole situation is reportedly just '... an update to this support article from 2007'.

http://gizmodo.com/5100996/false-alarm-apple-mac-os-x-anti+virus-recommendation-is-old

'In other words: No conspiracy theories, no "quietly published" technical notes. Just the same old recommendation they have been doing forever.'

[acosmichippo]

common sense is the best protection against viruses.

you illegal downloaders will get what's comin to ya one way or another.

[Witness]

So anybody know any good anti virus programs for mac they recommend?

[Lincoln]

So anybody know any good anti virus programs for mac they recommend?

Don't bother. Yeah, that article has been around since last year, and nobody cared about it until the Washington Post found it. I won't buy a single anti-virus program for any of my Macs until there is a virus out there, and today, there are none. Will the Mac eventually have viruses written for it due to increasing market share? Yep. But do you need to start acting like downloading any file has a risk of infecting your computer? No.

[acosmichippo]

well, there ARE viruses now. just be careful on the free porn sites, and the stuff you download from torrents.

[TarekElsakka]

Especially from P2P programs like LimeWire. Also torrents are pretty bad because most people just infect their files with viruses, keylogers, and malwares. They don't do it for a certain reason, but probably for the fun of it?

[psylichon]

I'm pretty sure lots of people do it to "punish" folks that use the web and P2P for illegal purposes.

[TarekElsakka]

Haha, back in 2006 when the latest Superman movie was released, it was either 2006 or beginning of 2007, I installed LimeWire and tried to download it four days after it was released in the movie theaters, but you know what I ended up downloading? A porn movie that has men wearing Superman outfits and girls wearing Catwoman outfits, I swear. It was called Superman Returns, so you see how f***** up LimeWire and P2P programs can be.

[acosmichippo]

that one was better anyway.

[Luckykelleyk]

Don't be too confident. Immediately after I got my mac, my paypal account was hacked and 1200 dollars was stolen from my bank account. Basically I was informed that it was some kind of spyware where hackers can get my passwords from keystrokes or something. I can't tell you the details because it was over a year ago. Since then I have had GREAT security software, and now I don't have to worry that I will get emails in the middle of the night telling me that my payment of hundreds of dollars to some stranger has gone through! UGH!

[acosmichippo]

yeah, they're called keyloggers.

[up10ad]

I have used and like ClamXav (http://www.clamxav.com/index.php?page=dl). Free too.

[FlwrPwer]

You know what I find saddest about this thread....all these PC users actually taking joy in the fact that now mac users might be able to get viruses.

Karma people. Don't wish bad on anybody...even if you don't agree with the computer they use :tounge:

[TarekElsakka]

I've been a Windows user for almost ten years now, but I changed to Macintosh a few months ago. I can tell you that the Mac is much better in almost everything. Of course Windows is better because all (or 97%) of the famous, awesome online games are Windows based, and it's no fun using Mac if you are a hardcore gamer like myself.

Don't be too confident. Immediately after I got my mac, my paypal account was hacked and 1200 dollars was stolen from my bank account. Basically I was informed that it was some kind of spyware where hackers can get my passwords from keystrokes or something. I can't tell you the details because it was over a year ago. Since then I have had GREAT security software, and now I don't have to worry that I will get emails in the middle of the night telling me that my payment of hundreds of dollars to some stranger has gone through! UGH!

Ahh, that's horrible. I have had a website once that taught people how to hack PayPal accounts (I even have online friends from Egypt who know how to do that, so can you imagine that? Actually that process does not depend on OS as much, because it's called 'patching paypal' or something like that. Where you add certain keyloggers, malwares, and patches to the website so people would easily get scammed and their accounts would get stolen by anyone. So Windows, Linux, Mac, or any other OS will not make a difference in such a situation.

[Luckykelleyk]

I've been a Windows user for almost ten years now, but I changed to Macintosh a few months ago. I can tell you that the Mac is much better in almost everything. Of course Windows is better because all (or 97%) of the famous, awesome online games are Windows based, and it's no fun using Mac if you are a hardcore gamer like myself.



Ahh, that's horrible. I have had a website once that taught people how to hack PayPal accounts (I even have online friends from Egypt who know how to do that, so can you imagine that? Actually that process does not depend on OS as much, because it's called 'patching paypal' or something like that. Where you add certain keyloggers, malwares, and patches to the website so people would easily get scammed and their accounts would get stolen by anyone. So Windows, Linux, Mac, or any other OS will not make a difference in such a situation.

Yup, you prove my point! Before I got my mac I had security software on my pc, and since that event I have security software on my mac. The only thing that ever happened to me was when I had no security software!

[Napoleon_PhoneApart]

You know what I find saddest about this thread....all these PC users actually taking joy in the fact that now mac users might be able to get viruses.

Karma people. Don't wish bad on anybody...even if you don't agree with the computer they use :tounge:

Maybe it stems from the years of "Macs are immune to viruses" that Windows users have had to listen to for years.

Just a thought. Karma works both ways.

[acosmichippo]

that's not exactly a malicious act, though.

[acosmichippo]

You know what I find saddest about this thread....all these PC users actually taking joy in the fact that now mac users might be able to get viruses.

Karma people. Don't wish bad on anybody...even if you don't agree with the computer they use :tounge:

yep.

they seem to have forgotten that this means our precious iphones are that much closer to being compromised.

[FlwrPwer]

Maybe it stems from the years of "Macs are immune to viruses" that Windows users have had to listen to for years.

Just a thought. Karma works both ways.

Two total different things. Mac users saying "we cant get viruses" and windows users saying "Ha! Ha! Mac. Now it's your turn to get viruses! And this makes me happy!"

One seems a little meaner than the other, dont you think?

[monkeysrock0622]

Your first example is more of a statement, and sometimes a persuasion to get people to get a mac. The second one is just like making fun of someone for tripping and falling on their face. The person laughing will probably walk into a pole lol.

[FlwrPwer]

Your first example is more of a statement, and sometimes a persuasion to get people to get a mac. The second one is just like making fun of someone for tripping and falling on their face. The person laughing will probably walk into a pole lol.

Thats my point. All these window users are bitter because we've been talking about how macs cant get viruses.

So now, because we made statements, they're rejoicing over the fact that we might not be completely immune.

[Luckykelleyk]

I think everyone needs to take some deep (virtual) breaths! :laugh2:

[psylichon]

Yeah I hardly take joy in any of this. Viruses suck regardless of platform. It's simply with bemused acceptance that I welcome you guys to the world of having to worry about this ****.

[JoeT]

You know what I find saddest about this thread....all these PC users actually taking joy in the fact that now mac users might be able to get viruses.

Karma people. Don't wish bad on anybody...even if you don't agree with the computer they use :tounge:


I don't wish for anyone to get a virus at all - I am just taking joy in Apple's nose getting rubbed in their hypocrisy. They have been way too smug and snobby and misleading people into thinking that Macs are essentially immune to viruses. Kinda like the Wizard of Oz: "Pay no attention to the viruses behind the curtain" -- 'cause there absolutely have been OSX viruses.

And again, I maintain: The greater Apple's market share ever becomes, the more malware writers will be attracted to the platform. And hey, when that happens, it will be paydirt - because so many Mac users will have zero malware protection installed.


Here's a good, non-fanboy article to read -- and remember, this was written in *2006*.

http://www.viruslist.com/en/analysis?pubid=191968025

[TarekElsakka]

Whether Macintosh, Windows, Linux, Unix, or any other OS, nothing is immune to viruses. It all depends on the users themselves. Some people just love going to anonymous, untrusted websites, and they keep on downloading things and installing plugins on their web browsers (most of those plugins are keyloggers). So no OS can resist or block such a virus, except MAYBE by an antivirus software, that's unlikely though. Norton always had and I am sure always will phail me, it's just as bad as McAfee. AVG isn't bad.