Mary E. Tyler, writing for Ars Technica, asks, “What is it about viruses that engenders so much hair tearing? Are you sick of hearing about how we’re—the whole world of us—not prepared for the avian flu? A resurgence of Spanish Flu? This winter’s flu-of-the-month (just four easy payments of $19.95!) The next Mac virus?”
“PANIC!!!!!!!!!! So says the Mac mag-of-mags Macworld. Now, we’re all supposed to run—not walk—out and buy anti-virus software because it’s so necessary. I mean, six proof of concept viruses have been found since February. An outbreak of the Mac flu that will slice, dice, and cobblerify your Mac is imminent. After all, we’re panicking,” Tyler writes.
Tyler asks, “Remember when Mac virus software was actually necessary?
Tyler writes, “I remember the last time that one of my computers got infested with a virus. It wasn’t actually my computer. It was the instructor’s computer in the CMU Intro to Programming lab (yes, Wean 5419 for fellow alums). It was the MPEG—no, wait, the MVOX—oh DARN, I don’t remember the name because it was frickin’ 1991! Since I don’t recall, I looked it up. It was the MDEF A virus. I got it from a pirate copy of PipeDream (an early but VERY cool Mac game from Lucas Film Inc). Remember MDEF? WDEF? Scores? No? The point is, it was 19-frickin’-91 the last time anyone I knew had a Mac virus.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: As always, we encourage readers to do the Macarena via Apple’s iTunes Store.
Related articles:
Symantec details ‘Macarena’ Mac OS X ‘proof-of-concept virus’ – November 03, 2006
Symantec researcher: At this time, there are no file-infecting viruses that can infect Mac OS X – July 13, 2006
Symantec warns of new proof-of-concept ‘trojan horse’ for Mac OS X 10.4.6 – June 30, 2006
Mafiasoft launches Windows protection racket – May 31, 2006
Symantec CEO: We think more people ought to buy Apple Macs – May 15, 2006
Mafiasoft: Microsoft to charge $50 per year for security service to protect Windows – February 07, 2006
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
Symantec warns about Mac OS X security threat – March 21, 2005
One possible virus – whoop-de-do.
If I get an onslaught of 10+ virus’ all at the same time – then I’ll panic. But even 10 is still a long way off from the mountain of Microsoft’s virus hell.
Hey, 1991, that’s the ONLY time I ever saw a Mac virus! A friend’s kid brought it home from school on a floppy disk and infected their Mac LC.
It took me about half an hour to find and eradicate it with SAM… Symantec Antivirus for Macintosh… for those.
This is Symantec spreading viral FUD in order to drum up some sales of their buggy, unstable and intrusive anti-vrus software.
I’m all for being careful about viruses, but until theirs a real MacVirus™ outbreak, I won’t lose any sleep or blow and money on Symantec’s elective, self-inflicted malware.
MDN Magic Word: and OH, so apt…
NEVER… as in I’ll NEVER give Symantec another cent!
Thank you, Mary, but the folks who are even aware of Ars Technica are the ones least likely to PANIC!!! over the news of a new “proof of concept” malware for OSX. The ones who will stampede to the AV vendors are the ones who think the Technology sections of Google News or Yahoo! News or Popular Science are cutting-edge technology at its best, or who thing that ZD-Net news can be trusted regarding any story that might allow platform bias.
These “proof of concept” scares are good for us – at least, the “us” who keep our software/OS pretty much up-to-date. Take one “proof of concept” zinger, stir it into the belly of the OSX development team, and you get a Security Patch. Much easier to manage when the things show up several times a year rather than several times a day.
Prediction (save this): Within 12 months, most Mac owners will fork over their money for a yellow box of something.
Why? Because it is necessary to protect their machine, their data, and their identity from viruses.
Just like the PC world.
Who to thank for this wonderful outcome of Apple’s “dramatic” increase in market share: That would be one Mr. Steve Jobs. Send him a thank you for leading the company to average.
Now, we’re all supposed to run—not walk—out and buy anti-virus software because it’s so necessary.
Or just download ClamXav antivirus. It’s free!
Get it at
http://www.clamxav.com/
Last I read, this is still a “proof of concept.” When something is in the wild, then I’ll worry.
As for MacWorld and “Panic!”, such bullcrap is why I did not renew my MacWorld subscription. They spread as much FUD as the PC writers. Their own editor talked about Mac viruses like we’re all under fire… bullshit.
Peterson,
It’s been over five years virus-free for Mac OS X, you fscking moron.
(Save this) by sticking your piece of shit Dell CRT monitor up your fat fscking ass. Do not unplug it before insertion.
So Peterson, why are there only 0.0017% of the number of total viruses Mac viruses? And that’s saying that the 2 proof of concept worms are ‘viruses’ and there are 114000 windows viruses.
Since the Mac has 5% market share now, shouldn’t there be about 5700 pieces of malware for the mac?
And even if there were Mac viruses I wouldn’t fork over money for a POS Symantec product. Just use ClamXAV or whatever else is free.
PS – If you have to run windows, don’t be a fool like Peterson Don’t but the yellow (or any other color) box.
For personal use, Grisoft’s well regarded AVG antivisus and antispyware products are free! Get them at:
http://free.grisoft.com/
Peterson, you are no Cassandra.
Prediction (save this): Within 12 month my aunt will develop balls and she’ll be my uncle.
There, a prediction that has a much higher chances than Mac owners having to buy AV when running Mac OS X Leopard with TONS of improvements security-wise with respect to Tiger. Security-wise, Tiger wrt Leopard is a swiss-chees.
Peterson, back to your pills now: you are losing your mind.
My hubby gave me a virus once…
Peterson’s wife
My hubby gave me a virus once…
… with his TINY little peter!
She charges that MacWorld says to “PANIC!!!!!”
This is the link she supplies to the MacWorld story: http://www.macworld.com/news/2006/11/03/macarena/index.php
Nowhere does MacWorld even broach an opinion. It plays it as a straight news story. What does that make Tyler? A fangoil?
Right on, DL Meyer!
Oh, and I know someone who had a Mac virus in 1997-98 (somewhere in there). How many Windblows users can say that? For them, it’s more like, “OK, who didn’t get a virus last week?” It’s like Monday morning at the STD clinic in the San Fernando valley.
Peterson, seems like every year somebody has been saying, “just wait a year.” Hasn’t happened yet. Not likely to either.
Peterson,
Tie a rope around your 80 lb. ugly-ass Dell CRT monitor. Use a pulley to hoist it up about 10 feet over your concrete garage floor. Continue holding rope and lie down on floor, positioning your larger head directly below 80 lb. ugly-ass Dell CRT monitor. Release rope.
I think MDEF A was the only Mac virus I ever had, somewhere around 1990. Like Ms Tyler, I also got it off an infected floppy. There was no way I could get rid of it, so I had to rebuild my Mac Plus. This took all day as it had a whopping 40 MB hard drive.
About 6 years ago, a Mac-based photo processing lab kindly infected my Zip disk with a worm, but it appeared to be non-functional.
Over the last 10 years I’ve watched various viruses slip though the PC network firewall at work and cause mayhem. As the sole Mac user, I’m always the only one who has to keep working. Everyone else can wander outside and wait for IT to sort it. Bummer!
However, the problem with companies like Symantec crying wolf too often is the obvious one – we Mac users might dismiss a real threat. We’re lucky to have a secure operating system, but it would be naive to think it could never happen.
Swa Frantzen
Quoted in the article seems to work for a fake company
website look like it was just put up for this article.
http://www.section66.com/
look who host the DNS they are on:
http://www.nameserver.net/
Wow both look like super professionals to me. More cause to be suspect about “Swa Frantzen”
I thought i had a virus on my 8500/120 (system 8.5), turns out the battery on the motherboard had died, resulting in a bit of flakiness, (that was the only time I have taken my system in to a repair shop for a fix, ever!) So when my PowerMac G4/400 had similar symptoms I just popped in a new battery and that was it, fixed!
MW = year
oh yeah, I think it was around 1996-7.
The last virus I got was indeed the WDEF disk based virus.
We shared Mac games through trading floppies back in those days, no internet then.
The graphic production administration went ballistic, solved the problem by opening every Mac and disconnecting the floppy drive.
So much for playing games at work. Solved our virus problem too.
Since then (what 16 or 18 years ago?) I haven’t gotten anything malware related unintentionally. Sure I fscked around and let hackers get in my box, tried a few pieces of malware on a cloned boot drive. Even got a few Javascript viruses and Microsoft Macro viruses that didn’t do a darn thing to my Mac.
So now I’m supposed to buy into Symantec’s scare tactics?
It’s been proven over and over that hackers first test their malware to get by anti-virus software before releasing it, in fact even using AV software in the malware to get rid of competition.
It’s a fact that flaws in Symantec’s Norton AV software have allowed hackers ROOT access to Mac OS X.
So basically we are more vunerable to using AV software (running in root space) than the mythical few viril it’s designed to protect us against.
If Symantec is hoping the increase of Mac OS X market share will bring more viril and malware, they are fooling themselves.
Well done Peterson, you know how to bring out the best in people don’t you. You must work for Microsoft.
Oh, and best keep your silly (hopeful) predictions to yourself in future.
Prediction (save this): Within 12 months, most Mac owners will fork over their money for a yellow box of something.
You’re right. Mac OS Leopard will come in a yellow box.
Oh you mean antivirus software??
Won’t happen. Mac OS X has been out since March 2001. And you’re expecting some major, undiscovered security flaw to finally appear? You’re nuts.
As for your prediction, how about standing up & putting some money behind it. You’ll find more than a few Mac users willing to take the bet.
Just out of curiosity I downloaded, installed, and ran MacScan to detect the presence of any spyware. The results were exactly as I expected — nothing detected. Zilch, nada. I have deleted MacScan, of course.
Around 1997 my office got hit by the AutoStart virus. No real damage done, just a bit of a pain to get rid of. Nothing since…… I ran Norton Utilites and Anti Virus all the time when I was on PC (Pre 1994). Quit running them on my Macs 4 or 5 years ago. Not much use for utilites since…..
Well, that was a nice attempt, but no mac users ever paid for anti-virus software. If we were dupes, we wouldn’t be using Macs, would we?