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DMann

macrumors 601
Jan 13, 2002
4,001
0
10023
In 2001, Windows XP shipped with 5 open ports. Yes, when we were well into the internet age, this is what MS did. Does it come as a surprise that Windows malware today numbers well above 100,000? It's due to MS' extreme negligence in the past.
This is precisely the point, not to mention that IE was integrated into the OS, making clandestine access even easier. The viral momentum was initiated and sustained by Windows negligence, and now they are pretending to care - too little, too late.
 

lex750

macrumors 6502
Jul 30, 2009
358
0
Deny what facts? Hacking with physical contact of said computer is known as 'Data Mining,' and has nothing to do with security breeches which involve hackers who do not know your password, and who are not directly in front of your machine. Merely wishing OS X were as prone to viruses as Windows doesn't make it true - Next

There was NO physical contact with the machine. It was done by the hacker remotely using an exploit in Safari. But I guess you knew that from READING up on it.
 

*LTD*

macrumors G4
Feb 5, 2009
10,703
1
Canada
The first day was to hack the Mac remotely. Not one person could do it. Nobody. No remote access, no viruses, nothing. Nobody can hack Macs remotely. To win the hacker needed local access to the machine. For his hack to work, it required somebody manually navigating to a site with malicious content.

For this hack to work in the real world, you would need to physically click a link to the malicious site somehow (in an email maybe, or a link via IM or whatever). Social Engineering. It relies on the ignorance of the computer user to do the hacker's job for him, because he can't do it himself.

Can your Mac get hacked remotely? No.

Will the hacker drive to your house and personally point your web browser to his site to infect your Mac? Not likely.

Make of that what you will.
 

sushi

Moderator emeritus
Jul 19, 2002
15,639
3
キャンプスワ&#
There was NO physical contact with the machine. It was done by the hacker remotely using an exploit in Safari. But I guess you knew that from READING up on it.
This is not a remote hack:

Apparently Mr. Miller visited a website which contained his exploit code (presumably via a crossover cable connected to a nearby MacBook), which then "allowed him to seize control of the computer

I humbly suggest that read up on this area before posting again.

The hole that you are digging for yourself is only getting deeper. Sometimes it's better to stop digging. ;)
 

DMann

macrumors 601
Jan 13, 2002
4,001
0
10023
There was NO physical contact with the machine. It was done by the hacker remotely using an exploit in Safari. But I guess you knew that from READING up on it.
I did read it - comprehension, on your part, is the only thing missing here.
 

reservedegotist

macrumors regular
Aug 19, 2009
171
0
On another note, the market share argument is completely ludicrous. This is basically equivalent to saying that there are no incentives to design viruses for Macs. That is simply not true. There are very good incentives to try to exploit OS X, which include but are not limited to:

- Bragging rights, since there is no widely-publicized exploit

- Real financial incentives if the hacker wished to let Apple know of such an exploit and can work with them to fix it.

- Just look at the growth over the past few years -- isn't the derivative of the market share enough to get those hacker brains going?

That error message about a potentially misleading package is to prevent self-infliction of trojans...not really anything to do with viruses. Yes the bottom line is that all hell can potentially break loose, but the day that a virus appears in OS X to destroy a whole network with no user intervention is the day hell freezes over.
 

*LTD*

macrumors G4
Feb 5, 2009
10,703
1
Canada
On another note, the market share argument is completely ludicrous. This is basically equivalent to saying that there are no incentives to design viruses for Macs. That is simply not true. There are very good incentives to try to exploit OS X, which include but are not limited to:

- Bragging rights, since there is no widely-publicized exploit

- Real financial incentives if the hacker wished to let Apple know of such an exploit and can work with them to fix it.

- Just look at the growth over the past few years -- isn't the derivative of the market share enough to get those hacker brains going?

That error message about a potentially misleading package is to prevent self-infliction of trojans...not really anything to do with viruses. Yes the bottom line is that all hell can potentially break loose, but the day that a virus appears in OS X to destroy a whole network with no user intervention is the day hell freezes over.

They've had almost nine years.

I guess we're really not that important . . . yet, still really "cool." And if Windows 7 sells at least the same as Vista, it looks like we'll remain unimportant. And cool.

Works for me.
 

dejo

Moderator emeritus
Sep 2, 2004
15,982
452
The Centennial State
- Bragging rights, since there is no widely-publicized exploit
Exactly. Who's gonna be more famous: the professional thief that breaks into almost every single house on a block even though they left their doors unlocked or the thief that broke into the one house on that block that is locked down like Fort Knox and has been for the last nine years? :D
 

DMann

macrumors 601
Jan 13, 2002
4,001
0
10023
On another note, the market share argument is completely ludicrous. This is basically equivalent to saying that there are no incentives to design viruses for Macs. That is simply not true. There are very good incentives to try to exploit OS X, which include but are not limited to:

- Bragging rights, since there is no widely-publicized exploit

- Real financial incentives if the hacker wished to let Apple know of such an exploit and can work with them to fix it.

- Just look at the growth over the past few years -- isn't the derivative of the market share enough to get those hacker brains going?

That error message about a potentially misleading package is to prevent self-infliction of trojans...not really anything to do with viruses. Yes the bottom line is that all hell can potentially break loose, but the day that a virus appears in OS X to destroy a whole network with no user intervention is the day hell freezes over.
Not to mention that the majority of financial institutions run their databases and IT using Linux and Unix servers. Somehow, though, this comprises less of a target than the smaller market share using Windows servers - go figure.
 

Eddyisgreat

macrumors 601
Oct 24, 2007
4,851
2
Not according to this... Mac OS X came in at THIRD place. Vista 2nd. Ubuntu 1st. Unless you want to deny those FACTS, then be my guest.

"PWN 2 OWN over: MacBook Air gets seized in 2 minutes flat"

http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/27/p...-minutes-flat/

Oh wow. Some exploit!1!1! This guy seized a whole number of 1 machines.

So you don't have proof of a virus that'll actually do any harm. Its not a worm if the worm writer has to be in the room telling me how to install his worm.

If it was so big and bad why havn't we heard the following headlines:
"New MacBook Air Worm, hundreds of thousands of Macbook Air owners affected."
 

Tara Davis

macrumors regular
Mar 29, 2007
130
0
I'm SO amazed at some ppl coming here claiming that Windows7 is all the Holy Grailz of the Internetz without taking into account that it's not even out yet! Windows has still a long way to go to match Mac OS X's elegance and simplicity.

It so reminds me of the Vista release days. :D

People are optimistic about Windows 7 because Vista was crap and MS tends to get things mostly right with each alternate release. Kind of like with Star Trek movies.
 

APPLENEWBIE

macrumors 6502a
May 8, 2006
707
14
The high desert, USA
Hey... remember way back when... when this was about apple' ads?

I just noticed something odd. If you go to apple.com and click on the Watch the new Mac Ads button, it gives you ads from 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. The list does not seem to be complete. I remember an ad (2006?) about the "new digital camera from Japan". That one is missing. Are there others AWOL?
 

reservedegotist

macrumors regular
Aug 19, 2009
171
0
I just noticed something odd. If you go to apple.com and click on the Watch the new Mac Ads button, it gives you ads from 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. The list does not seem to be complete. I remember an ad (2006?) about the "new digital camera from Japan". That one is missing. Are there others AWOL?

Oh yeah you're right...maybe that one was even older? I dunno, but it's still up on Youtube. Maybe it's irrelevant now when Vista got released?
 

BongoBanger

macrumors 68000
Feb 5, 2008
1,920
0
Which is precisely the point. Since over 54% of all Windows users are currently using XP, viruses, malware, and spyware remain a seriously daunting issue for Windows.

Perhaps, however these adverts are targeted at people buying new machines, the vast majority of which will most certainly not have XP on them.

User installed trojans are no where as debilitating as worms like conficker.

That's not actually true. There are some harmless worms and some really horrible trojans. It's not the delivery method that is important here, it's what it does.

You want to portray this image of a mac box being hooked up to the internet completly naked (without antivirus) and subsequently getting taken over within the hour and infested with malware, which isn't the case.

It's actually the case with any of the current generation major operating systems. None of them are likely to become infected without user intervention.

Likewise the users wern't at fault for something like conficker unless they refused to patch their machines once it start to spread. That was microshafts fault for having the exploit in the first place.

That's a ridiculously silly thing to say. Microsoft patched the Conficker vulnerability months before it's release. Those users who became infected had plenty of notice and the blame lies squarely with them in the same way it would lie with anyone who refused to update OS X security and ran into all sorts of bother as a result.

On another note, the market share argument is completely ludicrous. This is basically equivalent to saying that there are no incentives to design viruses for Macs.

Actually it is and it isn't. It's ludicrous because OS X did have considerably better inherent virus protection than Windows right up to Vista's release. MS were about seven years behind Apple in this respect. Therefore whilst you'll see a lot of viruses for XP you won't see a lot for Vista or W7 because it's as secure - or arguably more secure - than OS X. It's just a shame it took them seven years to get there.

It isn't ludicrous because form a malware point of view - and I'm talking about trojans and worms which require user intervention and, as such, are pretty much platform neutral - Windows does get far more of these purely because of its dominant position in the industry.

So kind of a mixture of both really.

That error message about a potentially misleading package is to prevent self-infliction of trojans...not really anything to do with viruses. Yes the bottom line is that all hell can potentially break loose, but the day that a virus appears in OS X to destroy a whole network with no user intervention is the day hell freezes over.

Sure, the same applies to Vista and W7 networks. Now XP, which is a horror that needs to die, is a different matter.
 

reservedegotist

macrumors regular
Aug 19, 2009
171
0
Actually it is and it isn't. It's ludicrous because OS X did have considerably better inherent virus protection than Windows right up to Vista's release. MS were about seven years behind Apple in this respect. Therefore whilst you'll see a lot of viruses for XP you won't see a lot for Vista or W7 because it's as secure - or arguably more secure - than OS X. It's just a shame it took them seven years to get there.

It isn't ludicrous because form a malware point of view - and I'm talking about trojans and worms which require user intervention and, as such, are pretty much platform neutral - Windows does get far more of these purely because of its dominant position in the industry.

So kind of a mixture of both really.



Sure, the same applies to Vista and W7 networks. Now XP, which is a horror that needs to die, is a different matter.

All true, definitely. I wasn't bashing Vista or W7 about their security, just extolling more about OS X's own :). I still dislike Vista though :p; it just doesn't feel that snappy compared to XP, and I hear that W7 is more efficient in that sense even w/ Aero. I hope that's the case; I'm waiting to go back to school and download a copy from MSDNAA.
 

NoSmokingBandit

macrumors 68000
Apr 13, 2008
1,579
3
Exactly. Who's gonna be more famous: the professional thief that breaks into almost every single house on a block even though they left their doors unlocked or the thief that broke into the one house on that block that is locked down like Fort Knox and has been for the last nine years? :D

Isnt a thief worried more about not being famous?
 

Hrududu

macrumors 68020
Jul 25, 2008
2,306
657
Central US
*yawn*
The most over-played bit in advertising history.

Apple needs some new material desperately.
Apple loves to burn ad campaigns into the ground. How long did/have they use the dancing silhouette iPod commercials? Pretty sure that concept has been around for a MINIMUM of 6-7 years now.
 

h4ck

macrumors regular
May 26, 2006
193
54
no - they clearly have a vested interest in viruses actually being an issues on MacOS, thus /any/ "news" about viruses, be it Apple's own precautionary measures or otherwise is good publicity for them.

even if there was built in protection, they would simply position it as "are you going to trust your virus protection to apples periodic updates? buy our software! stay up to date with the latest definitions etc!"

yawn.

So you are saying that the screenshot of Snow Leopard's malware protection feature is all made up by this company to get you to buy their software?

If Apple included this feature in Snow Leopard, there's a reason why. Maybe there is more to those "Security Updates" than meets the eye.

Think about it.
 

DMann

macrumors 601
Jan 13, 2002
4,001
0
10023
There is a third new commercial that popped up on the site and aired during Bones.

Trainer. It looks like it has Robert Loggia in it.
"Maybe we can try some positive reinforcement at this point..."

Hilarious, clever, and to the point!

Robert Loggia - the quintessential coach.
 
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