The trouble with OSX is the way you install applications - the DMG files are great when they are from a legitimate source, but you are at the mercy of the person who created it. If they wanted to add something nasty to the image, there's nothing in OSX to stop it once you've put your password in. How many users routinely "view contents" when they download dmg's from the internet?? Sure, the damage will be limited to your home folder, but in all honesty, that is where all your stuff is - everything else can be reinstalled.

There's also invariably a big gap between a vulnerability being discovered and Apple quietly patching it...

Plus, if I was in the business of writing malware, I'd be going after the smug gits with lots of money who think they are above it all!

At least with Snowy there's something running in the background waiting to point out that something fishy will happen if you continue. Hopefully my copy will arrive tomorrow.

I hope you aren't referring to any particular felines in that sweeping statement.

Um. quite a few of those things need to be overtly installed and are commercial products. To call them 'trojans' is massively stretching the definition. Not that there isn't malware for the mac, because there is. However classifying everything that could get onto your mac by whatever method - including you having to install something that's pretty up front about what it is - that even vaguely fits the idea of malware as a 'trojan' just isn't helping.

If we're going to talk about the whole ecosystem of trojans/malware/spyware etc, can we at least stick to the commonly understood definitions of what those are?

And I have to say, the review comments on macscan aren't entirely impressive.

Jon

Firstly it's not your password necessarily, it's an 'admin account password' which may not be the same.
Secondly there is pretty much no desktop OS around that won't fall off the security wagon at that point. Server OS's tend to be a bit more paranoid by design but pretty much every OS that's designed for a computer which one person will have on their desk and use, be it a Mac OS box or a Windows box or (say) an Ubuntu box, once the thing pops up saying 'this program is doing something weird, type in the security password here to let it carry on' and you type your password in then all bets are off. The thing has breached security because you let it not because of any inherent flaw in the underlying OS.

As is always said, the only truly secure computer is utterly impossible to use. Everything else is a compromise.

No OS is invulnerable but the fact remains the weakest component in any OS is the human bit. Let's not start comerging issues.

Jon

This is true and linux to a greater or lesser extent would be vulnerable too, but most Windows PC's that aren't owned by complete idiots will have some sort of realtime malware scanner running - the 'nix systems have never had to worry about this and are left under-prepared. (they also have their firewall switched off by default...oddly) With Snowy there will at least be something there to stop these dodgy apps.

It is your password if you are the only user...

There's nothing stopping you from using a non-admin account if you want. In fact, some people recommend it. Of course, you can still enter the admin password because you know it.

Personally, I don't, and I tend to be very wary about what I download and install. I will always get stuff from a trusted source, and will generally shy away from anything that's not got a provenance I can at least follow up.

I think that is because having more than one firewall running at a time can be problematic. Most Mac users will be connected to the internet via some kind of router with an internal firewall of its own.

(Again I have may have this wrong)

As Homer might say we "We are both right"

From here
http://www.macworld.co.uk/mac/news/inde ... wsid=27012
this quote



So this is either the most token of protective measures or there really is very little to protect against at the moment.

But they aren't running any firewall software, unless they've installed a third party firewall... And if there is more than 1 machine on the network, not running a firewall could lay you open to attack from that machine, if it gets infected.

Having a perimeter firewall doesn't affect a local firewall and vice versa, it is just a good idea to have the local firewall running and only open incoming ports for services you are expecting to offer... (E.g. why the heck would you leave ports open for SMTP, POP or IMAP, if your machine isn't running as a mail server?).

Am I missing something here? Do you have to be a Mac user to watch the ad?

All I am getting is the Watch the Ads page and there is a link on that page to Watch the Ads which just refreshes the page.

I found that too. I had to open it in Safari, which is a bit of a pain.

The videos are quicktime, so if it isn't installed (or you don't have VLC), it won't play.

For those that hate Quicktime

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYw3IGaz8Sw



Or from British Mac Forum

http://britishmac.proboards.com/index.c ... thread=191

Obviously I can't have QT installed for Firefox but I am used to getting notifications in IE. It's sorted now.

As far as the ads go, they are certainly more amusing and inventive that a lot of the [LIFTED] out there. I'd rather watch them than many of the ads.

As fa as getting the ads to display, I found that Ad Block Plus stopped Firefox from opening them at all until I let it.

Yes, the ads are smug and I also think Apple has clearly be rattled by Microsofts laptop hunter ads.
It amused me that the UK ones had to be pulled because David Mitchell (PC in the UK) was much more popular than Robert Webb so the ads didn't really work.