Mac - virus protection software - do we need it ?

ponder said:
Even when not using Windows I would still use an anti-virus app. It just not look good when you have virii originating from yourself even if they don't affect you ;)
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I dont see how I'm going to pass on a virus to someone if I dont blindly forward emails with attachments.

BTW - Virii is not a real word. The plural of virus is viruses. ;)
assagai said:
It's so good to not have to worry about getting a virus when my clients bring me dodgy flash drives etc.
I'm certainly not anti-windows but the virus free environment on a mac means one less thing to worry about.
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Enjoy it while it lasts - I know I will. :o
 
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koffiejunkie said:
Frankly, I don't care about the idiotic masses and their scum infested windows machines. If someone is stupid enough to forward a completely out-of-character mail, and their friend is stupid enough to open it, and on top of that, the mail made it through two layers of mail server where it should have gotten caught, then *someone* deserves to suffer for it. I can't be expected to bog down my Mac with antivirus bloatware just to protect them against their stupidity.

If someone in this day and age is still willing to put up with a mail provider that allows infected files through, they have no one to blame but themselves. If you're still getting virusses in your inbox, get another mail provider (or contact me off list).
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Ditto!!! :)

assagai said:
It's so good to not have to worry about getting a virus when my clients bring me dodgy flash drives etc.
I'm certainly not anti-windows but the virus free environment on a mac means one less thing to worry about.
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Ditto :)
I love popping someone's flash into my Mac and then seeing that they have odd files on there that shouldn't be there - "dude, did you know you have a virus on your flash? My Mac show's me that you have "funny" files on your flash" - he he ;)
 
I use antivirus for my Mac, because it find malware and protect Mac. I use Protemac NetMine too. I think it's the best program for Mac.
 
What malware does it find? Malware for mac or the usual windows goo that ends up in everyone's browser cache anyway?
 
From what I have seen, macs get pwned pretty fast when someone focus`s on them. Safari seems to be the biggest hole I have seen.
 
w1z4rd said:
From what I have seen, macs get pwned pretty fast when someone focus`s on them. Safari seems to be the biggest hole I have seen.
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Seems that in the Pawn2Own competition, the contestants had plenty of time (months) to prepare their exploits and required physical access to the computer in question. This is different to malware which is not physically present on a Mac but sits on a website somewhere or in an email attachment. There is a major difference here.
 
PeterCH said:
Seems that in the Pawn2Own competition, the contestants had plenty of time (months) to prepare their exploits and required physical access to the computer in question. This is different to malware which is not physically present on a Mac but sits on a website somewhere or in an email attachment. There is a major difference here.
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Im sure in Pete-World hackers only spend 10 seconds working on an exploit to hack computers :rolleyes:

However in the real world hackers spend hundreds of hours on their exploits and hacking skills. They often spend months just working on one target. They dont wave a magic hack wand and go "haza! I makes a hole!". Its a pity Apple didnt have "plenty of time" (months) to patch their zero day vulnerabilities ;)
 
w1z4rd said:
Im sure in Pete-World hackers only spend 10 seconds working on an exploit to hack computers :rolleyes:

However in the real world hackers spend hundreds of hours on their exploits and hacking skills. They often spend months just working on one target. They dont wave a magic hack wand and go "haza! I makes a hole!". Its a pity Apple didnt have "plenty of time" (months) to patch their zero day vulnerabilities ;)
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The fact is that in the real world there are no viruses for the Mac OSX platform although there were viruses for earlier Macintosh systems. The real world is different to competitions.
 
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w1z4rd said:
:erm: They didnt use a virus to hack the mac. It was a web browser exploit... which do exist in the wild.

http://www.google.co.za/search?q=safari+exploits&btnG=Search&hl=en&sa=2
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How serious in the real world are these exploits? Have Macs been actually turned into botnet zombie machines because of these exploits? Have peoples' bank account login details been stolen?

AFAIK Firefox, Explorer, Opera etc all have similar exploits. Only Windows machines have been compromised as far as I know in real life - there has never been an instance of a Mac beeing turned into a botnet zombie or peoples' account details stolen on the OSX platform.

I know it's not a virus exploit but the mechanism of taking over the computer is similar. Hence you should not have rolled your eyes - I don't roll my eyes whenever you open your mouth on topics you are clueless about (science, biology, physics, medicine, etc).
 
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PeterCH said:
How serious in the real world are these exploits?
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Very, check the link I posted. The more serious info you have access to, the more likely you are to be personally targeted.

Have Macs been actually turned into botnet zombie machines because of these exploits? Have peoples' bank account login details been stolen?
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Yes - http://www.zdnet.com/blog/security/ibotnet-researchers-find-signs-of-zombie-macs/3157

Im sure, but due to OS density I doubt in the numbers that MS people have.

AFAIK Firefox, Explorer, Opera etc all have similar exploits. Only Windows machines have been compromised as far as I know in real life - there has never been an instance of a Mac beeing turned into a botnet zombie or peoples' account details stolen on the OSX platform.
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Ubuntu was running FF in the pwn2own contest.. I wonder how it did... ;)

I know it's not a virus exploit but the mechanism of taking over the computer is similar.
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You come across as confused in your last post which is why I felt the need to clear it up ;)

Hence you should not have rolled your eyes - I don't roll my eyes whenever you open your mouth on topics you are clueless about (science, biology, physics, medicine, etc).
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Awww shame... Petey cant win the argument so resorts back to .... being himself.:rolleyes: Sticks and stones and all that Pete. However, you calling ANYONE clueless is considered an accolade on this forum by people who know you ;)

I also thought I should help educate you .. again. See`ing as you have problems with icons and all that. :rolleyes: is "rolling of the eyes" and :erm: is... "erm" ;)
 
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Synaesthesia said:
I knew you would post that. That's a trojan put into pirate copies of iWork, which was put on a torrent site. Meaning the only way you can get it is if you pirate iWork through a torrent site, and install it, for which you need admin privileges. So not much of a virus or botnet there.
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Its not much of a botnet I will agree. Though in Microsofts defence, most zombies are made up of cracked and hacked version of windows that get disabled if you install security updates. Its not a virus, but it is a mac botnet.

One thing I have noticed about Mac, it really gives its users a false sense of security and any user of any OS should always be aware.

MacOSX malware exists, is growing and is not rare: http://www.google.co.za/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=mac+malware+in+the+wild
 
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