Not a Mac user myself but here is an incident:
Again, malware is the new game in town, not the classic virus.
How do you get rid of multiple viruses?
- Thread starter NorthStar
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Again, malware is the new game in town, not the classic virus.
interesting but I have never sustained a malware attack and looking at the You Tube video didn't the attack come because an upgrade plug-in was not installed ( if so this speaks volumes for always updating one's OS)
Agreed, but not your rationale. Market size has nothing to do with it, rather the underlying technical decisions made by the OS writers. Mac OS is based on UNIX, which was designed from the ground up to be a multitasking, multiuser OS. Consequently, the concepts of processes not being able to mess around with others' data (for example) were thought about and designed right into it. And this is back in the late 1960s, early 1970s. For this reason, Mac OS has historically more challenging for virus writers when they try to attack core OS components.
Windows, which grew out of DOS, has its origins as a single user, single tasking OS. So stuff like strict memory barriers between processes and the separation of different users' data at the OS weren't considered. I've no doubt that such legacy continues on today.
Well, I have never sustained an attack either on my numerous PCs
.As to the video, I am not a Mac guy but it appears that the very act of a pop up showing the version for the Mac triggered the malware. He was not yet installing or downloading any plug-in. If true, it was a browser exploit on the Mac.
In fairness the video is created by a company in the business of defending against such attacks. I was however impressed by how far the Chinese site had gone to hide the identity of what they were trying to do.
There haven't been any OS X viruses in the wild, at least to date. I like OS X and have a Macbook Pro laptop, but I still have a slight preference for Windows 7, which I use on my desktop. Much to my regret, I find that I still have to take extra precautions with Windows.
The best advice came from Amir: be careful about the web sites you visit and the links you click on. Last year, with an up-to-date Windows 7 machine running MS Security Essentials, I inadvertently clicked on a link using Firefox that quickly installed several pieces of malware on my computer. I am pretty experienced with Windows, and used HijackThis and other software to analyze and reverse the changes to my registry and system. But at the end of the day, things never ran the same and I had to resort to a reformat and reinstall. I was very surprised to see this happen as I was trying to be careful. (I'm really not sure what I clicked on!) Also, Windows 7 was supposed to be Microsoft's latest and greatest with regard to security and I had never had any Windows Malware issues going all the way back to Windows 3.0. What a disappointment!
The best advice came from Amir: be careful about the web sites you visit and the links you click on. Last year, with an up-to-date Windows 7 machine running MS Security Essentials, I inadvertently clicked on a link using Firefox that quickly installed several pieces of malware on my computer. I am pretty experienced with Windows, and used HijackThis and other software to analyze and reverse the changes to my registry and system. But at the end of the day, things never ran the same and I had to resort to a reformat and reinstall. I was very surprised to see this happen as I was trying to be careful. (I'm really not sure what I clicked on!) Also, Windows 7 was supposed to be Microsoft's latest and greatest with regard to security and I had never had any Windows Malware issues going all the way back to Windows 3.0. What a disappointment!
For Windows users, it is recommended that your normal use be from a user account with reduced privileges. Save the administrative account for when the privilieges are specifically needed...Like installing software of known credibility. (I presume you do this amirm?)
I'm on my second Mac, about 8 years service, no viruses. But I think those days are coming to a close.
Tim
Bob, about a year ago, my youngest daughter was on a web site that is designed for children. She gets a pop-up that says something like...click here for your free 'whatever'... My little one comes over to me and says "what's this Dad?" I decide to click out of the box and close the window....BIG mistake
The moral of the story... There are some code writers out there that will get past just about any virus software and will wreak havoc on your PC machine...Therefore, get a MAC...FAR less likely to occur, as these lads aren't into Mac and the OS is much more secure, IMHO.
Hi Dave,
My brother has a Mac and he doesn't have those 'virus' problems; but a Mac is a different animal all together and it ain't for everyone.
Yes that is a great advice although I never had a problem without that on XP.
I think that we need to distinguish between Trojans and Viruses. Any good anti-virus (even the free ones like AVG Free) will stop most viruses before they hit. However, Trojans get installed even when you click [Cancel]. One of the best Trojan removers is by Malware Bytes available here:
http://www.malwarebytes.org/
What I tell all non-technical computer folks:
1) If you don't know what it is, assume it's bad.
2) You don't just "catch" viruses - it has to be given to you.
3) Practice safe sex. An anti-virus program is like a condom.
4) If something pops up asking to install something get out of there!! Hit [CTRL]-[ALT]-[ESC] to end the process. Do not even hit [CANCEL] as the malware can camouflage that as [OK].
http://www.malwarebytes.org/
What I tell all non-technical computer folks:
1) If you don't know what it is, assume it's bad.
2) You don't just "catch" viruses - it has to be given to you.
3) Practice safe sex. An anti-virus program is like a condom.
4) If something pops up asking to install something get out of there!! Hit [CTRL]-[ALT]-[ESC] to end the process. Do not even hit [CANCEL] as the malware can camouflage that as [OK].
Wow! You beat me up to it!
Other than work computer, I have never had any type of virus checker on my machines. And not once have I been infected. Not sure my method is applicable to everyone but here it is:
1. Be very careful which web sites you visit. This is how computers are getting infected these days. The previously held notion that viruses come as a result of downloading programs is no longer true and all manner of devices are vulnerable from PCs to Macs and iPads. If you only go to proper, commercial web sites, you simply will not have any problems. Period.
Now go looking for sex advice and viagra, and the game changes
2. This one is hard but you need to have some computer knowledge. One was mentioned before. When seeing something fishy, bringing up task manager (control+shift+escape on PC) and killing that session. I have had to do this once or twice. Learning how to use that tool takes a bit of skill and detecting what might be problematic, a lot more.
That's it!
1. Easier said than done!
{Viagra or sex therapy ain't my forte!}
2. We don't have the amount and years of your expertise Amir!
{I've been told to delete past history; beyond the dates when those viruses first appear.}
* Thanks for the tip Amir (Ctrl + Shift + Esc). ...But it will take some time and practice to master.
{And so far you gave us some great advice that is truly appreciated.}
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Actually, none of this is exactly true. The earlier, 16 bit consumer versions of Windows - Windows 3, Win 95, Win 98, Win ME - were based on DOS. But all 32 bit and 64 bit versions of Windows - NT, 2000, XP, Vista, and Windows 7 - are based on a modern multi-tasking kernel that is not inherently any more or less secure than various Unix kernels. Most viruses are written to exploit specific vulnerabilities in the coding of a particular OS, and the devil is very much in the details when it comes to this. The consensus in the computer security field seems to be that the latest versions of OSx are just as vulnerable in a technical sense - perhaps more so - than Win 7, and that Apple is not as responsive as Microsoft in turning around fixes for exploitable vulnerabilities. But that is probably to be expected: MS has far more people attacking its OS than does Apple, and thus has much more to lose.
In practice, many viruses these days attack applications rather than the OS per se. For instance, there is an annual competition called pwn2own where security researchers compete to hack various systems as fast as possible. The first system hacked is always a Mac - within minutes or even seconds - by exploiting the holes in the Safari browser, which everyone seems to agree is the least secure browser available. Security experts all seem to rank Firefox as the most secure browser, FWIW. If you've got Macs in the house frequently used by less cautious or computer-savvy users, switching to Firefox as the primary browser is probably not a bad idea.
Gary, what is the difference between a Virus and a Trojan?
And which one is worst?
And thanks for the advice Gary ([Ctrl] + [Alt] + [Esc]).
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Heh. I programmed my first computer using WATFOR at the U of Waterloo circa 1966 or 67.
Another story: I gave my daughter a nice new laptop when she went of to university a few years ago. Like a good modern father I installed an anti-virus checker and told her to practice safe surfing. Soon she called up and complained that the computer had gotten very sluggish and was almost useless. Of course, it was loaded with viruses.
I got it sorted out but wondered why I paid good money for ant-virus that was so ineffective. My daughter agreed…She thought it was a major inconvenience having to override it so much whenever she wanted to get on a site it didn't like.
Eventually they did so much damage I just threw it away.
Another story: I gave my daughter a nice new laptop when she went of to university a few years ago. Like a good modern father I installed an anti-virus checker and told her to practice safe surfing. Soon she called up and complained that the computer had gotten very sluggish and was almost useless. Of course, it was loaded with viruses.
I got it sorted out but wondered why I paid good money for ant-virus that was so ineffective. My daughter agreed…She thought it was a major inconvenience having to override it so much whenever she wanted to get on a site it didn't like.
Eventually they did so much damage I just threw it away.
…([Ctrl] + [Alt] + [Esc]).
This is known affectionately as the "Three Finger Salute".
I'm glad to see I'm not the only one without a virus checker. When XP first came out and I built a new computer I decided to leave out a virus checker just to see if I would get infected. I manage our computers at work and employees will get a virus or trojans even with antivirus software and gateway antivirus on the firewall. I've had one infection at home about 3 years ago which only took a few minutes to remove. This includes an HTPC and laptop both of which are also used by my wife and kids.
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