“Thank you for helping mark the 200,000th entry into the VirusScan malware (malevolent software) detection database,” Jimmy Kuo writes for McAfee Avert Labs Blog.
“We mark this moment simply as a milestone in our continual trip to fend off the bad stuff from everyone’s machines,” Kuo writes. “It is alarming that we reach this milestone so soon after September 2004 when the count reached 100,000. Eighteen years to reach 100,000. Less than two years to double. Looking ahead, our researchers expect yet another doubling in a similar timeframe. So, 100,000 new threats in the past two years, 200,000 new threats to come in the next two years!”
“Thanks also to the cadre of dedicated anti-malware researchers who on this day added that 200,000th malware detection entry, so we may pursue our enjoyment of the Internet experience with a little less worry,” Kuo writes.
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: What worry? Oh, sorry, we use Macs. Happy 200,000th!
From Apple eNews, June 1, 2006:
It’s really sad that so many people have to be wary about opening email, visiting websites, chatting with presumed “buddies,” or downloading music, photos, movies or other files over the Internet.
No one should have to zealously guard their computers against spyware, viruses, trojan horses, or various other types of malware. Or run a bewildering assortment of (quickly obsolete) virus-protection apps. And no one should have to run a computer to a nearby computer store, so it can be “cleaned” on a routine basis.
Do you know why people put up with that? If their cars didn’t drive where they wanted to go; their TVs didn’t play what they wanted to watch; or their phones didn’t connect to the party they called, how long would they keep using them?
Apple provides more info online about Mac’s lack of viruses here.
By the end of 2005, there were 114,000 known viruses for PCs. In March 2006 alone, there were 850 new threats detected against Windows. Zero for Mac. While no computer connected to the Internet will ever be 100% immune from attack, Mac OS X has helped the Mac keep its clean bill of health with a superior UNIX foundation and security features that go above and beyond the norm for PCs. When you get a Mac, only your enthusiasm is contagious. – Apple’s “114,000 viruses? Not on a Mac.” webpage.
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Related MacDailyNews articles:
Sophos Security: Dump Windows, Get a Mac – July 05, 2006
16-percent of computer users are unaffected by viruses, malware because they use Apple Macs – June 15, 2005
Apple: ‘Get a Mac. Say ‘Buh-Bye’ to viruses’ – June 01, 2006
Apple Macs and viruses: Fact vs. FUD – May 26, 2006
Mossberg: Is there a virus threat for Apple Macs? – May 11, 2006
ZDNet: How many Mac OS X users affected by the last 100 viruses? None, zero, not one, not ever – August 18, 2005
Intel CEO Otellini: If you want security now, buy a Macintosh instead of a Wintel PC – May 25, 2005
Defending Windows over Mac a sign of mental illness – December 20, 2003
All 400,000 viruses for Windows, none for Mac.
Okay, I’ll be fair. 399,999 viruses for Windows, 1 for Linux, and none for Mac.
McAfee + Windows = saying Gesundheit to ebola victims.
A Trojan is in the Virus family, so technically OSX has had two (2) viruses.
Definition of Trojan Horse from Websters Dictionary Student Edition (hardcover) 2005:
– A Trojan Horse is a malicious, security-breaking program that is disguised as something benign, such as a game or even a program to search and destroy viruses! A Trojan is a type of virus which normally requires a user to perform some action before the payload can be activated.
Ok folks, update the propoganda material to 200,000 pieces of malware for Windows PC’s
Bookmark that link.
Facts:
Microsoft employees leaving in droves, Bill Gates retired, the spark is dead there, Ballmer trimming staff down.
Apple is growing, needs more buildings, putting up more stores, aligned themselves with largest chipmaker
When your green your growing, when your ripe, your rotting.
I think Bill Gates is going to give the keys to the computing world over to Steve Jobs, it’s painfully obvious now.
Steve is busy building the infastructure for world domination, grabbing all the best retail locations.
Out with the old and in with the new.
So, what does it say about a person that puts up with that type of software abuse? I mean come on.
If there is a viable alternative what does it say about a group of people and humans as a whole that refuse to stop using something as pathetic as Microsoft Windows?
It’s like an abusive relationship. The beaten wife says, “He’s a good man, I can make him better”.
I say – Why wait?
A trojan is not a virus. A virus spreads by itself, trojans don’t. End of story.
Wandering Joe,
There are many types of viruses, a Trojan is one type. I’ll post it again, straight from Webster Dictionary student edition 2005:
–A Trojan is a type of virus which normally requires a user to perform some action before the payload can be activated.
“What — me worry?” – Alfred E. Neuman
When your green your growing, when your ripe, your rotting.
Correction:
When you’re green, you’re growing; when you’re ripe, you’re rotting.
It’s Stockholm Syndrome with a touch of Cognitive Dissonance thrown in for flavor:
Defending Windows over Mac a sign of mental illness – SteveJack, MacDailyNews
Hey Webster Dumbkopf:
What’s it like to be, you know . . . WRONG?!?
The “dictionary” is not the REAL WORLD, idiot. Much less your stupid, almost meaningless “Webster” dictionary. And a “student” version at that!
Get real. The commonly accepted, real world understanding of the definition of a computer virus is something malicious that spreads by itself.
Book smarts versus street smarts. Look into it.
Tom Cruise’s meatus,
As in the real world, a Virus is not defined by how it is contracted. A Virus is defined by what it does, whether it be to a human’s immune system or a computers data.
In the real world, a Virus can be contracted in different ways, through blood, saliva, food, etc.. etc.. In the computer world, a Virus can also be contracted many different ways, through the internet, email or by simply clicking on the wrong file. It doesn’t change the fact that it is still a VIRUS. Get used to the fact that there are two types of Viruses known as Trojans for OSX.
I’m just stating the facts, accept it and move on.
Webster,
Please fill in the users here. What are these two Trojans and how do they infect or destroy Macs?
Malware is malware
It compromises the security of your computer despite the name or tricks involved.
It only takes one successful exploit to root a Mac OS X box.
Most people do not erase and install the operating system upon learning of a exploit, they assume they haven’t been compromised and just apply the patch.
Right now there are several exploits on Mac OS X that haven’t been fixed.
Sure there are 200,000 pieces of Windows malware out there, which of course makes Mac OS X look like a angel in comparison. But in actuality all the hackers have to do is use one of the few publicly known Mac OS X exploits out there and they are in our boxes just like any Windows box.
The unix basis for Mac OS X is relatively secure, it’s the botched security GUI on top that’s causing all the problems.
Why did Apple mess with Unix and create launchd? Now it’s exploitable.
Think,
I’m not denying that the Oompa Loompa was a Trojan that required user interaction. I’m saying that a Trojan is a TYPE OF VIRUS.
Much like the HIV virus requires the exchange of bodily fluids before it can infect.
A Virus is not defined by how it is spread! There are thousands of Viruses, some require user interaction some don’t.
Webster, do you know the difference between descriptive dictionaries and prescriptive ones? The supposed “definition” you cite is but the most easily understood description (for the great unwashed, moronic masses) of what is clearly NOT a virus.
Citing a supposedly “modern” dictionary in any argument today is much like asking NAMBLA to define the word “love.” That august group has no understanding of the word, and neither does “Webster” when it comes to viruses and trojans.
FYI: Adding the brand name “Webster” to a contemporary dictionary is akin to adding “Hudson” to a new car model. The G & C Merriam Company holds the copyright to the “Webster” name, but they are in NO WAY related to Noah Webster and his original work. In fact, among most aficianados of American English lexicography, the Merriam Company is considered something of an also-ran. Next time you might want to quote the OED or New American Heritage Dictionary in your argument. They’re much more highly respected.
Nicole Kidman M,
No point in arguing with mules. I’ve made my case, the information is legitimate and verifiable. Denounce the source, twist and contort the meaning to defend your beloved Apple till it suits your needs. Ignorance is bliss.
Once again, for the record.
–A TROJAN IS A TYPE OF VIRUSwhich normally requires a user to perform some action before the payload can be activated.
You are an ignoramus.
You guys are all missing the point. At the current growth rate of viruses, the implication is that Windows will become practically unusable because the anti-virus program is going to be sucking major processor time doing continual scans.
Think about it – every file that you open on a Windows machine in 2008 will have to checked against 400,000 virus definitions each and every time. I know Moore’s Law is still alive and well in terms of processor performance, but virus definitions are growing faster than Moore’s Law!
At some point, current anti-virus programs will become intolerable because there will just be too many things to guard against. Won’t it be great when that Dell dude gets a brand spanking new PC and 25% of the performance gets immediately sucked up by the anti-virus and security software?
—From Microsofts Website. They oughta know what a Virus/Trojan is better than anyone:
Just as human viruses range in severity from the 24-hour flu to the Ebola virus, computer viruses range from the mildly annoying to the downright destructive, and come in new and different forms.
Certain viruses, called Trojans (named after the fabled Trojan horse), can falsely appear as a beneficial program to coax users into downloading them. Some Trojans can even provide expected results while quietly damaging your system or other networked computers at the same time.
Link:
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/viruses/intro_viruses_what.mspx
Mr. Webster,
Whatis.com defines a Trojan Horse as
In computers, a Trojan horse is a program in which malicious or harmful code is contained inside apparently harmless programming or data in such a way that it can get control and do its chosen form of damage, such as ruining the file allocation table on your hard disk. In one celebrated case, a Trojan horse was a program that was supposed to find and destroy computer viruses. A Trojan horse may be widely redistributed as part of a computer virus.
which means that you are correct by these definitions. However, I had come to know “virus” as self-replicating, while “Trojan” required interaction, hence the new term “malware” to cover all cases. Now that there are so many thousands of malware codes floating around the original terms have become diluted.
Webster,
Oh my god nooooo, not the dreaded Oompa Loompa virus/trojan!!!!!
The Oompa Loompa or “OSX.Leap.A” trojan is just amazing in what it can’t do.
I’ll highlight the main points:
– You must be using Bonjour iChat, not Internet-based iChat.
– You have to pick it and download it.
– You have to decompress it.
– You have to launch it and install it.
– You have to enter the admin password for the Mac you are on in order for it to install.
For the complete article on how lame this is, go here:
http://www.macworld.com/news/2006/02/17/leapafollow/index.php
From Symantec’s web site today:
• Number of infections: 0 – 49
• Number of sites: 0 – 2
This just might cause mass world destruction, ohhhh nooo, what to do!!
(sarcasm)
So Webster got another virus?
Webster,
Dictionary.com’s definition is more accurate:
a program that appears desirable but actually contains something harmful; “the contents of a trojan can be a virus or a worm”; “when he downloaded the free game it turned out to be a trojan horse” IE: The Trojan is the vessel in which a virus can be hiding, but it doesn’t make it a virus in itself.
MDNews Magic Word: “Open” as in “Webster opened his mouth and we all saw he was eating crow.”
Think,
No need to be sensationalistic. It is widely acknowledged that Oompa Loompa is/was pretty harmless.
Just pointing out that it was a Trojan and a TROJAN IS A TYPE OF VIRUS!