“Mac users are facing an onslaught of security threats — and reacting to the malware is no longer considered a good strategy Taking proactive measures against phishers, spyware, ID thieves and other Web threats, like downloadable rootkits which infes operating systems, is the new norm,” Gene J. Koprowski “reports” for MacNewsWorld in an article with the would-be-funny-if-it-weren’t-so-sad headline “Developers Struggle to Defend Macs From ‘Zero Day’ Attacks.”
“During a conference call with reporters, experts affiliated with the SANS Institute indicated that there has in recent weeks been a “surge” in attacks on the Apple OS X platform. The growth in Mac vulnerabilities, according to Alan Paller, director of research at SANS, comes as there is a decline in the critical vulnerabilities found in Windows services. Part of the problem lies in the Web browser that many Mac users rely upon — Internet Explorer,” Koprowski “reports.”
Full “piece” here.
MacDailyNews Take: We’re just going to stop the Koprowski BS Express right in its tracks at this random point of ridiculousness. Our stats show the browsers in use to access MacDailyNews (which obviously receives a high concentration of Mac users) in the month of April 2006 as follows: 63% for Safari / Safari RSS / “Mozilla Compatible Agent,” 13% for Firefox, 6% for NetNewsWire, 6% for Internet Explorer, 3% for MacReporter, 0.77% for Camino, etc. You get the point: even with a large group of Mac users stuck on Windows machines at work and using IE, our stats show just 6% accessing our site via IE (about which we’re extremely happy, BTW), so Koprowski’s statement that “many Mac users rely upon Internet Explorer” is as wrong as wrong gets – just like the rest of the FUD contained in his “report.” What’s Koprowski going to do next, an exposé on how it’s likely going to pour rain every day in Phoenix according to Arizona-based umbrella manufacturers and retailers?
Give us a break already! We’re not buying crap antivirus software for our Macs for no reason. If anything, run the free ClamXav, if you want to be a good network citizen and help protect Windows sufferers from their operating system’s inability to do so properly. More info and download link here.
Gene Koprowski is a UPI Technology Correspondent:
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Related articles:
ZDNet: Reduce OS X security threats – ignore security software – May 05, 2006
McAfee announces virus protection for Intel-based Apple Macs – May 05, 2006
BusinessWeek: New Apple Mac ads stir up Mac security overreaction – May 04, 2006
Unix expert: Mac OS X much more secure than Windows; recent Mac OS X security stories are media hype – May 03, 2006
Macs and viruses: the true story – May 02, 2006
Anti-Mac FUD machine shifts into overdrive – May 01, 2006
FUD Alert: Viruses don’t catch up to the Mac – May 01, 2006
BusinessWeek: Apple should hire security czar to combat uninformed media FUD – March 09, 2006
Spate of recent Mac security stories signal that Microsoft, others getting nervous – March 06, 2006
Mafiasoft: Microsoft to charge $50 per year for security service to protect Windows – February 07, 2006
Why pay Symantec for flawed ‘security’ app designed to protect Apple Macs from nonexistent threats? – December 27, 2005
‘Highly critical’ flaw in discovered in Symantec AntiVirus for Mac OS X – December 21, 2005
Why Symantec’s ‘scare tactics’ don’t worry Mac users – September 28, 2005
Motley Fool writer: ‘I’d be surprised if Symantec ever sells a single product to a Mac user again’ – March 24, 2005
Symantec cries wolf with misplaced Mac OS X ‘security’ warning – March 23, 2005
Symantec’s Mac OS X claims dismissed as nonsense, FUD – March 22, 2005
Hello all,
I went to the article and even checked out the super software he recommended to help Macs get protected from the malware he was describing.
The software requires a PC running Windows XP. Hmmmm. Can you say: “Has not got a clue!” ?
N.
Can anyone explain whether a rootkit can infect a Mac without the malefactor having physical access to the computer?
“Browser that mac users rely on is internet what”???
I don’t think so Tim, try again. Mac users use Firefox or Safari. What onslaught? What teenager wrote this crap? Well you did a bad job and need to really know what you’re talking about before writing it. FUD!!!
Sloppy.. you beat me to it. good job.
I recently used IE. I did it because my kids, who have only ever used Safari or Netscape/Mozilla/Firefoxhad never heard of Internet Explorer so I fired it up (on Virtual PC in Wondows 2000) on my Powerbook. It was an interesting history lesson for them.
WINDOWS VIRUS PROBLEM SOLVED WITH MACBOOK PRO!! (and other Macs with Intel)
it doesn’t ship with Windows Explorer!
Sloppy Seconds: your comment would be funny if you were Stephen Colbert.
But you are not Stephen Colbert.
Hello Kiddies. Please sit down. Today we’re going to learn something new:
Here is a quote from macnewsword dot com: “Malware attacks targeting Mac OS X are on the rise. They reached 143 last year from 45 in 2003 — a 228 percent increase over the past three years — according to findings from McAfee Avert Labs.”
Now, Kiddies, the writer needs to learn that the words “attacks targeting” do not mean “attacks which penetrated”. This is the same in any fight: just because you attack does not mean you win.
And another quote:
“The Mac has never been ‘more secure’ or ‘less secure’ than a Windows operating environment,” [David Marcus, security research and communications manager for McAfee] told MacNewsWorld. Rather, he said, it has just been lucky — at least up until recently.
This, Kiddies, is an example of what we call FUD: Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt. And another new word for you, “Misinformation”.
Now for your practical lessons, go turn on those PCs that our Principal forced us to buy and go find out what real viruses and malware are all about.
I was building a website the other day and wanted to use CSS to make a shadow effect behind a picture. So, I looked around online and got something that rendered correctly on Safari. Then I thought I should try it with some other browsers, so I tried Firefox – looked the same as Safari, then tried OmniWeb 4 (not even the most recent version) – looked the same as the previous two browswers, then tried IE 5.5 on the Mac – surprisingly, it looked the same as the three previous browsers, then I went to IE on a Windows machine – it didn’t look anywhere close to what it should look like and didn’t even render the shadows.
Here is a link to the example:
http://homepage.mac.com/reedkb/shadow/index.html
It rendered correctly on:
Safari
Firefox
OmniWeb
IE 5.5 on Mac
It did not render correctly on:
IE 6 on Windows
Not that anyone I know still uses IE on the Mac, but if you did, you’d still be ahead of anyone using IE on Windows….
Am I not supposed to use Firefox @work to access MDN? Uhoh.
.77% Camino? Are you kidding? Even Mac users don’t use the best.
“if you want to be a good network citizen and help protect Windows sufferers from their operating system’s inability to do so properly”
Hmmm. Why should I want to do that?
What a stupid article.
First, to say that “phishing” and “ID thieves” are part of OS security is retarded. Second, the “surge” in attacks? All less-than-you-can-count on one hand? Right. Third, the article then goes into talking about viruses and lumps OSX in with Windows. Talk about intentionally misleading the reader.
Complete and utter shit,
I can count the number of trojans — that’s ‘viruses’ to the dumbasses — on one hand.
And, as one of the digits on my hand is a thumb — well, do the math Einsteins!
Now there’s some humans that need to be killed.
Oooops. I meant shutdown.
Onslaught defined in two different worlds:
Windows – nuclear explosions
Mac – pea shooter
Windows – hurricane
Mac – slight breeze
Windows – all pipes busting and home filling with water
Mac – one drop from the faucet
Windows – complete exsanguination from hundreds of deep stab wounds
Mac – a tiny, tiny paper cut
Remember, IE is pronounced, “AAAAAAAIIIIIEEEEEEEE ! ! ! ! !”
OH!
I Understand now!!!!
So because I use a browser created by, and for, Windows, and there is a “decline in the critical vulnerabilities found in Windows”, that must mean that my operating system has CRITICAL VULNERABILITYS!
such freaken’ crap
this person really needs to look both ways before crossing the damn street
I don’t know… Its like these scaremongers are begging the virus creators to start doing their thing on the Mac or something.
What I really don’t like is that, the several non-Mac users who come to sites like MDN read this crap and maybe get the impression that we Mac users are careless free-for-allers that take no precautions.
I know for a fact that by the time OS 9 was on its way out there were a dozen or so verified bugs, a couple of which could do real damage. Even so we’ve got to have some perspective here –
THERE HAS ALWAYS BEEN AND ALWAYS WILL BE EXPONENTIALLY MORE VIRUSES, AND MORE, MORE VIRULENT ONES, FOR THE WINDOWS PLATFORM – PAST, PRESENT, OR FUTURE.
Even IF there were any real viruses (Yet) for OS X/Intel, why would that be a bigger deal than what Windows users deal with now. They just deal with it, or have somebody else deal with it for them. Why all the hooplah over viruses on Intel/Macs?
BECAUSE ALL VERSIONS OF WINDOWS, INCLUDING VISTA, ARE RIDDLED WITH FULLY EXPLOITED VULNERABILITIES – MANY TIMES OVER. MS and ALL of its many many minions are desparate to remove negative attention from themselves.
Honestly, the first real virus/malware to hit OS X, I think the first place we look is to the individuals and organizations originating this would-be intimidation.
When the “Virus” ad talks about the 114K viruses out there for PCs, they only affect PCs…NOT MACS! The commercial isn’t saying there are no viruses for Macs (or that there never will be), but there are 114K that Mac users won’t have to worry about.
Oh, and for anti-virus I use Intego Virus Barrier, made by Mac users for Mac users…
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Well, I registered at their dumb website just so I could post a reply in their Talkback forum. I guess I was going to be the first post since there were none already there. Anyway, I posted a polite but blunt rebuttal of his article…. and they never allowed it to see the light of day! The article has been up almost all day now and there is only ONE comment posted.
I’m really not all that surprised considering all the FUD that’s going on there.
Most of the quotes in the article come from one press release.
http://www.sanasecurity.com/press/pressreleases/041806.php
In the original release there is no mention of Apple, Macs or OS X.
The “Free trial software” that is linked to , and talked about for the last few paras……. is PC only !!
This is Fud with a capital F.
The article has a talkback feature. Go to it guys!
oops. I use a Mac all day at work (Thank God!), but I have a Citrix MetaFrame account (Windows) on it and I use IE in it to hit the MDN site several times every day. And my entire lunch break. I just use that b/c it’s easier, but now that I know that the IE is being counted, I’ll put FireFox on the Mac and use that instead. It was just laziness.
“Mac users are facing an onslaught of security threats”
*** Stop right there and read no further.
@neomonkey “.77% Camino? Are you kidding? Even Mac users don’t use the best.”
*** I was suprised as well – LESS than 1%? These people don’t know what they are missing! Camino is incredible! People should at least give it a try, you can always trash it if you don’t like it.
http://www.caminobrowser.org
@just2me “Oh, and for anti-virus I use Intego Virus Barrier, made by Mac users for Mac users… (emphasis added)”
*** Ok, now I know you must be a company rep. This is about the 5th time you have used that exact same statement in about a week. I’m not personally knocking Intego, but come on…..
———————————————–
Ich beende Rechtschreibungnazin
http://www.caminobrowser.org