“I have no fear of viruses, worms or trojans infecting our computers at all. No, not all of the family members are computer geeks like me but it is just a matter of identifying and using superior technology when you see it,” Rom Feria writes for The Manilla Bulletin.
“I have two Apple powerbooks, a 15” and a 12” powerbook running Apple’s latest operating system, Mac OS X 10.4 or Tiger. In addition, there is another computer running Linux that is being used by my brother and sister. These are connected, wired and wirelessly, on a single network to a Linksys broadband router running Linux as its firmware. Although there are viruses for the Mac OS X and Linux in the labs, there are no known viruses on these platforms (ok, there may be some but not in the order of magnitude as those infecting the other platform). However, there may be trojans out there that are distributed thanks to unsuspecting users. So far, I have not heard of a massive infection the same way that viruses, worms and trojans infect the other platform,” Feria writes.
“It is often argued that virus creators target the system with the most number of users. Whilst it is true to some extent, it is also because of how the system is designed. If it is designed to be easy to exploit, then you will find more viruses, worms and trojans,” Feria writes. “This is where superior technology comes in. Mac OS X, which is Unix-based similar to Linux, does not allow applications to be installed without the user entering the administrator (or root) password. In circumstances that applications are installed by the user (without admin/root password), the possible infection is contained within that user’s space only and not the entire system. This is how the system is designed. This is also why it is NOT encouraged for users to login as administrator or root for their day-to-day basic computer use.”
“Linux and Mac users often ask me this question. My simple answer is no, if you know how to deal with e-mail attachments, spyware and avoid downloading from untrusted web sites,” Feria writes. “So, if you are tired of being paranoid about your computer system getting infected, try a much more superior technology – use Linux or Mac. So, would you rather live in fear and be dictated as to where you want to go today OR just think differently and live in an open but secure environment? The decision is yours.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: There are zero Mac OS X viruses.
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first first post…
I’ve been a mac user since my IIc… the switch to OSX virtually eliminated my need for virus protection. In the 5 years since I loaded OSX on I’ve detected one virus, and that was a windows virus my son loaded from a gaming site.
It just works….
Every time someone says “There are no mac viruses” it’s like well yeah, but *knock on wood*
lol… checked the calender…. time must fly when you’re having fun on a mac….
it’s been 4 years since OSX came out…
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Oh, wait, that was just a speck in my eye. False alarm!
Back to threat level green.
I don’t live in fear of any of the above either.
Gotta love you mac zealots. Spreading disinformation, 24/7.
Toodles.
The first beta version of OSX was shipped in 2000 — 5 years. It was slow and had many bugs, but it was cool.
And I just had the following conversation with a guy in my lab
friend: “Your computer has a better GUI than mine.”
me: “That’s why it takes me longer to get stuff done on Windows.”
friend: “I can see why.”
Can someone please remind me why people use Windows.
“Do I need an anti-virus software?” Nope. Say’s it all.
[I don’t live in fear of any of the above either.]
Yes, you’re too busy patchin’ and DLing NAV updates to ever spend a moment in fear.
[Gotta love you mac zealots. Spreading disinformation, 24/7.]
Yeah, Everyone that uses a Mac is a zealot and a perpetual liar.
I should switch to Windows. NOT!
I love how WinZealots are always spouting off that the virus, infections, spyware, trojans, and adware problems don’t exist because THEY never have these problems.
I guess the 150 million folks that do complain about V.I.S.T.A., are MacZealots!
zero viruses in existance for Mac OS X, in five years. Enough said.
NoMacForYou wrote,
“Gotta love you mac zealots. Spreading disinformation, 24/7.”
So why am I on the phone to my Uncle, trying to work out why Norton has just told him his computer has got a virus, and right now he’s in Safe Mode (what a joke, probably the most secure state Windows can be in) trying to wipe a virus from his XP PeeCee?
Disinformation is a tool used best by Microsoft.
Jamie,
Your uncle is a dolt. Tell him to immediately unplug his computer. Have him stick to using radios. Hopefully that won’t be too complicated for him.
“Tell him to immediately unplug his computer”
That IS the best advice you can give to any Windows user.
[Your uncle is a dolt.]
NMFY’s ‘How to win friends and influence people’.
[Tell him to immediately unplug his computer. Have him stick to using radios. Hopefully that won’t be too complicated for him.]
Ah, the old ‘If you’re not willing to learn all the ‘nuances’ of Windows – even when you just want to email – then you are stupid or you’re a MacZealot’ argument.
NMFY, insulting anonomous posters on the internet just about sums up your anal attitude to life (in general).
And appleguy is right, I should tell him to unplug his computer, it’ll be the safest PC in the world!
One more thing, go and take your face for a shit, you pathetic, piss-soaked turdwipe.
Ouch.
JYBaritone,
Isn’t the phrase “windows virus” a redundancy? 😀
This is the cleanest admission that Window users at large are truly idiots. From NMFY virus and infections are not a problem with Windows. Corporations, companies, labs etc. spend million $ on protecting themselves from something our troll of the weeks say are not a problem.
Then it is true: only idiots use Windows.
“Isn’t the phrase “windows virus” a redundancy?”
That’s the most intelligent statement I’ve read all day.
Windows virus is what it is. I always cringe when I hear people say “Computer virus”. It is Windows virus, period.
Sometimes redundancy is beneficial.
>Although there are viruses for the Mac OS X and Linux in the labs, there are no known viruses on these platforms (ok, there may be some but not in the order of magnitude as those infecting the other platform). However, there may be trojans out there that are distributed thanks to unsuspecting users. So far, I have not heard of a massive infection the same way that viruses, worms and trojans infect the other platform,” Feria writes.>
What is the truth in this statement?
little truth. A virus need to replicate and spread. What exists in labs for OS X does not replicate nor spread.
One has to issue manually commands as root on a terminal window to infect the single OS X platform. Virus? Whatever.
Trojans “there may be out there”. Yeah, where?
The last statement is true: “so far […] not heard of a massive infection”.
Well, it is partially true: not heard of a minor infection either.
Mine is the secure way. Mac OSX
Simple.
So, according to NMFY, Network Associates and Symantec amongst others are committing a fraud by telling us that viruses are a problem for Windows networks.
Well, if that’s true, surely they should be dragged before a federal court to answer for crimes which are surely verging on racketeering.
But, it also means that the 90% of computer users who run Windows are dolts for being sucked into a protection racket.
So, NMFY, are Windows users stupid and the software industry a bunch of fraudulent gangsters. Or is Windows vulnerable to over 100,000 pieces of malware.
[Are Windows users stupid?]
Some of them are. I think any PC pundit will tell you: 89% of the stupid people in the world use Windows, while only a mere 4% of the stupid people use Macs.
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[Is the software industry a bunch of fraudulent gangsters?]
I look at the question this way. Is Microsoft a money-laundering racket?
And just a funny story to round off the day…
One of my SMB customers – a games manufacturer based in the West End of London – recently had to purchase a replacement PC for a generic “beige box” that pre-dated my involvement with the company.
Now I happen to recommend Fujitsu-Siemens PCs when I’m speccing Windows systems, because I like the build quality and I like the after-sales service which isn’t relevant to my story, but it shows I’m not a cheapskate (well not with other people’s money).
Because their site is literally on top of the site of one of the recent bombs, I have become a little reticent to drive into their offices for smaller jobs, simply because of the chaos, so I decided to try and talk the system’s intended user through the install process.
Box unpacked and wired in, young Kyra followed my instructions to the letter: All the basic Windows XP setup, then Office XP Standard, then Office XP Service Pack 3 and then, before installing Symantec/NAV, an initial visit to Windows Update, merely to upgrade (?) to Microsoft Update.
Unfortunately, this last part was a disaster: since my last machine install – a mere 10 days ago – MS have decided to start verifying WinXP licence details to ensure that [B]ONLY[/B} properly purchased copies of Windows XP can receive MS updates. Now I don’t know when this was turned on or for how much of the world, but this morning, this new system took around five minutes simply to verify its existence with the MS mothership and then took another 10 minutes before informing my human proxy at the other end of the phone that it could not contact the server.
Now you could just put that down to poor planning or just some teething trouble and move on. Which is what we did. Kyra installs NAV as per instructions. Logs off as me, logs on as her – job done.
Five minutes later, she calls to say that she can’t send e-mail from Outlook which is claiming a registry problem.
The only solution I could think of, which was ultimately successful, was that there was some MS Hotfix that I was missing because of MS’s new verification policy and that it was conflicting with Office XP SP3: so back in as Admin, remove Office XP, reinstall it and leave it without its service pack.
So now, my user is running a half-protected system, which is missing the last 10 months worth of hotfixes for WinXP and Office XP. So maybe NMFY can tell me if I should consider this quality of performance acceptable? Do I need to do these updates, seeing as Windows is so secure anyway? And if my customer’s site falls foul thanks to the vulnerablity left wide open by MS’ corporate incompetence, who can my client sue?