Two Mac viruses strike at the heart of the platform's secure image | Technology | The Guardian
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2 ... erstrike-2

Yawn

Malwarebytes seem to be making random statements. If Esser had informed Apple months ago and Apple have fixed it in the next version of OS X, but can't be bothered to fix it for all of their active users, that isn't the same as Esser publishing it without informing Apple and giving them time to fix.

"Computer gets virus" shocker!

The article seems to be a tad gleeful about the situation. I don't really care. If macs are generally free from malware good on them, if not, so what?

I guess you can argue the Apple is being hoist by its own petard as far as viruses/malware goes. For years mac users and Apple gleefully mocked Windows users for their virus problems and Apple went so far as to claim it wasn't a mac problem. Naturally as the platform has grown and increased in market share it's become a more attractive target for malware and viruses.
Apple seems to have dropped the idea that OS X is free from viruses and malware but the tech press isn't about to let it forget it's arrogance so quickly. Plus Apple seems generally less open and up front about how it deals with security issues than Microsoft these days.

Its probably still fair to say there are fewer mac specific viruses and malware than there are Windows ones but there are also a great deal more platform agnostic ones that use Flash, Java or browser specific vulnerabilities which can hit pretty much anyone.

So yeah, pretty much a non story. Must have been a slow news day.

Wow, the tech press lecturing someone else about arrogance? And they're calling Apple a hypoocrite?


We're well into the silly season now, yes.

Yeah, I remember the *ahem* occasional stupid flame war. I've even joined in some light-hearted ribbing, but I don't own or use a mac, and I fail to see how them having problems somehow enriches my life - whatever keeps them warm at night, I suppose.

It's undoubtedly true that there is more awareness of (and possibly publicity of) OS X vulnerabilities and that it was never the case that there were 'none'. It is generally the case that there were and indeed probably still are fewer than on Windows, but that's akin to saying a kick in the teeth is better than a kick in the nuts. It think that's at least partly because there is more public awareness of computer security issues in general and I consider this a good thing. People should be questioning manufacturer's claims of security and reliability.

I'm not sure Apple ever did say there were no Mac viruses/malware. That would make them a hostage to fortune and a class action suit in waiting in the US. They definitely did play up the fact there were less viruses than on Windows and the whole 'it just works' slogan tended to get conflated to mean that as well. I have to be honest though, the only time I've seen the 'macs have no viruses' line in the past.. well, decade maybe is when someone has gone down the 'they said Macs had no viruses but they do, Hah!' line. It may have become a 'when did you stop beating your wife' kind of thing.

In any case, it benefits no one (other than the black hats) to waste time bickering about who is standing in the biggest bucket full of manure. Better to spend the effort on getting out of the buckets.

I think I remembered it a bit differently but I was thinking of this 'I'm a Mac and I'm a PC' advert - clickety.