I really can't beleive that they sat on that knowledge for eight weeks and just like yesterday released the software update... Time to go see if I have been infected.
Over Half a Million Macs Infected With Malware - Page 2
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Yamulo
United States2096 Posts
I really can't beleive that they sat on that knowledge for eight weeks and just like yesterday released the software update... Time to go see if I have been infected. | ||
TheToast
United States4808 Posts
On April 07 2012 05:45 Craton wrote: Dunno what you're talking about. PC hardware will always be superior to Mac hardware if you're just analyzing cost. It's the interface/brand name of Mac that's adding a significant premium (you get superior hardware for a PC because you aren't paying the premium and there's a lot more competition between part makers for PCs) Mac also does some weird things with hardware, I know someone in Tech Support a few days ago was asking about ECC memory in his macbook. ECC or error correcting memory is more expensive and is usually only reserved for usage on servers where a system crash could take down an entire website. Really kind of pointless to put it in a desktop, but that's the kind of stuff that Apple does. But for the most part you are paying a huge premium for the same hardware. An interesting aside, did you know that it's technically illegal (against the EULA) to run an Apple OS on anything other than Apple hardware? | ||
CursOr
United States6335 Posts
Anyone taking time to craft a virus would have been wasting their time on a mac in like 2004 or before. But now, making viruses for a mac is actually worth your time. I can't believe anyone would think that macs were somehow superior because they had less viruses. | ||
EdSlyB
Portugal1621 Posts
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Hinanawi
United States2250 Posts
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shannn
Netherlands2891 Posts
Most people I know didn't knew there were anti-virus applications for the Mac (I didn't either until I searched for it). | ||
CursOr
United States6335 Posts
On April 07 2012 05:57 Hinanawi wrote: Your typical Mac user is the kind of person who, with a PC, would be calling you asking why their Internet Explorer runs so slow and why it has 50 toolbars installed taking up 3/4th the screen. These are the kind of people who actually swallow the stuff about 'Macs can't get viruses' or 'You need to BUY anti-virus software for PCs!', the kind of people who download "hotbarelylegal18.avi.exe" and double-click it and then wonder why their computer isn't working. I have 2 friends who use Mac's and I can personally testify to this fact. I like the hands-on approach of windows. Even though every OS is more dumbed down than the previous, it is still nothing like Mac. It's like owning an old VW, part of the fun is being able to do almost everything yourself. | ||
MugenXBanksy
United States479 Posts
On April 07 2012 05:57 Hinanawi wrote: Your typical Mac user is the kind of person who, with a PC, would be calling you asking why their Internet Explorer runs so slow and why it has 50 toolbars installed taking up 3/4th the screen. These are the kind of people who actually swallow the stuff about 'Macs can't get viruses' or 'You need to BUY anti-virus software for PCs!', the kind of people who download "hotbarelylegal18.avi.exe" and double-click it and then wonder why their computer isn't working. Sums up soo well. The irony of how true it is the sad part. Lol none the less less reason for the know it all smug Mac users to get knocked of their little pedestals. | ||
TheToast
United States4808 Posts
On April 07 2012 05:59 shannn wrote: Hmm used that link to check if I have that virus and it says not. I've always had anti virus detection on my mac and I always make sure I give permission if my browser downloads/streams anything so maybe that also helps (I hope it does) too. Most people I know didn't knew there were anti-virus applications for the Mac (I didn't either until I searched for it). Just run the Software Updater and you should be protected, at least against this particular malware. | ||
B1nary
Canada1267 Posts
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shannn
Netherlands2891 Posts
On April 07 2012 06:03 TheToast wrote: Just run the Software Updater and you should be protected, at least against this particular malware. Already up to date. :p But thanks for letting me know for sure. | ||
Wuster
1974 Posts
On April 07 2012 05:52 CursOr wrote: The only reason macs "never had viruses" was because PC has always bene so much more popular. Anyone taking time to craft a virus would have been wasting their time on a mac in like 2004 or before. But now, making viruses for a mac is actually worth your time. I can't believe anyone would think that macs were somehow superior because they had less viruses. That was always one popular theory. But the truth is; a few years ago no one knew why Mac's had a lower incident rate of getting viruses than PCs. Another theory was the MacOS was/is more secure (it is a unix derivative after all =p). You can guess which view Apple favored. And yes, a lot of fanboys mistook causality with correlation on this one. | ||
TheToast
United States4808 Posts
On April 07 2012 06:03 B1nary wrote: From my understanding, Java code is suppose to be independent of operating system. So wouldn't that mean any Java-based threat can also affect macs? Why hasn't there be something like this before? Well Java code is, but the malware downloaded has to be tailored to a unix based operating system specifically or it won't work. So even though a Java exploit to infect a computer with malware might exist on both Windows and Mac, you need separate malware for each to be able to infect them successfully. | ||
Playguuu
United States926 Posts
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ragnorr
Denmark6097 Posts
On April 07 2012 06:05 Wuster wrote: That was always one popular theory. But the truth is; a few years ago no one knew why Mac's had a lower incident rate of getting viruses than PCs. Another theory was the MacOS was/is more secure (it is a unix derivative after all =p). You can guess which view Apple favored. And yes, a lot of fanboys mistook causality with correlation on this one. In the past MacOS was not userfriendly, you had to do alot of stuff your self. That resulted in a very small userbase with a decent understanding of how not to get infected since they were more tech savy(Same can be applied to unix distros). Since there were so few people, no one would care to design a virus for it(Why make it for a small portion of the market when you can hit the other 95%) Now you see alot of "dumb" people switch over who were amongst the usergroup who were the ones getting malware on their PCs switching over to Macs which have resulted in a much higher % of the market using macs. This is making it alot more attractive for people who design these malware to target it since it has alot more users and it is growing rapidly. Combined with the usergroup who are really fucking stupid with how they go abouts on the internet you will see a increase of malware in the future for mac | ||
Wuster
1974 Posts
On April 07 2012 06:15 ragnorr wrote: In the past MacOS was not userfriendly, you had to do alot of stuff your self. That resulted in a very small userbase with a decent understanding of how not to get infected since they were more tech savy(Same can be applied to unix distros). Since there were so few people, no one would care to design a virus for it(Why make it for a small portion of the market when you can hit the other 95%) Now you see alot of "dumb" people switch over who were amongst the usergroup who were the ones getting malware on their PCs switching over to Macs which have resulted in a much higher % of the market using macs. This is making it alot more attractive for people who design these malware to target it since it has alot more users and it is growing rapidly. Combined with the usergroup who are really fucking stupid with how they go abouts on the internet you will see a increase of malware in the future for mac So you just repeated the same argument the first guy did. You're still talking about an OS with a market share of less than 15%. It's growing for sure, but industry experts think the entire PC market is going to shrink as people start moving towards tablets (which the iPad *is* far and away the most used). So I guess if iPads start getting infected left and right then we can probably assume it was Mac's obscurity that protected it. Previously the stereotype for Mac users were graphic/artistic types, back when Adobe and Apple were BFFs. I do use a Mac for programming though (it's nice to have a polished *nix machine), so if you told me it was a stereotype that didn't support demographics I might believe you. Except I also grew up in a world where plenty of educational institution used Macs b/c of Apple's great educational outreach (at least in the US). So again, hardly only the choice of tech savvy people. | ||
Deleted User 183001
2939 Posts
On April 07 2012 04:39 CyDe wrote: I am glad that finally this absolutely ridiculous claim by Apple that their computers don't get viruses has been publicly debunked. There have been other viruses but usually they get zero attention. I hate that so-called reason to get a Mac, and hate it when people rub it in my face. But personal prejudices aside. I wonder why Apple waited so long to release this patch? Were they hoping that the Java patch would fix it quietly or what? I agree this is great for debunking that silly myth that anyone who knows why it was so knows Apple is simply misinforming uneducated people, but don't people know the reason why Apple computers supposedly do not get viruses? The thing is you have to tailor viruses for a specific platform/operating system. Since Macintosh is such a tiny share of OS usage compared to Windows, why the heck is anyone going to make viruses for Apple systems? All that happened here is one group decided for whatever reasons to make viruses for Mac OS, and they were obviously extremely successful. | ||
DannyJ
United States5110 Posts
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DreamChaser
1649 Posts
Edit: Also to be honest i always wondered why no hackers bothered to make a virus for Mac's i mean they are expensive as fuck compared to a PC so most people who buy them will probably be well off. I mean why not just rob rich people instead of little old poor me. | ||
Triscuit
United States722 Posts
On April 07 2012 09:36 DannyJ wrote: This just proves Mac is more successful than ever. People are bothering to put viruses on it. Good for Apple! Yeah, it's not the $100 billion cash they have in the bank telling them they're successful, it's that a trojan has surfaced on their platform. | ||
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