Symantec: Mac OS X Becoming a Malware Target

tb3 writes "According to ZDNet 'Security vendor Symantec is warning that Apple's OS X operating system is increasingly becoming a target for hackers and malware authors.' They go on to warn that the only thing that's protected Apple users from exploits so far has been the small number of Macs on the net. Now that people are buying Apple products for 'style over function,' according to one analyst, Apple computer has become a target for new attacks. More coverage on Australian IT and Silicon.com. I guess sales of Norton Anti-Virus for Mac needed a boost." Symantec may well be right about this, but note that they also have the world's biggest vested interest in making Mac owners nervous enough to buy their anti-virus products.

Comments

Spread fear to increase sales.

[JackAxe]

They must be taking pointers from the Bush administration.

Now why does the Mac need virsu protection? Oh, to clean our e-mail of PC viruses, so that our PC friends can be safe.

Mac User

[Anonymous Coward]

Look at me, I am Mr. Mac User I don't think viruses exist, and koala bears don't kill people.

The only saving grace gone?

[Some_Llama]

It used to be that you could say:

"Yah my Mac might be under powered compared to a PC, and yes it does cost 2x as much as a PC, and yes the software available for the Mac is severely lacking compared to a PC, but at least I don't have to worry about Viruses!!"

Now they can't even say that? sorry couldn't resist :P

Re:Safari runs like crap

[aftk2]

Just curious...was BBEdit Lite straining to keep up as you typed that?

yeah, mc users have more money too.

[calistoga_water]

cause windoz users like to spends money on drugs and computer

Re:Macs are secure but not invulnerable

[gl4ss]

why would you need root to deploy a sufficiently annoying remote-control kit? the basic user has sufficient rights to take over the machine(most macs are one user installations as well).

Re:The real statistics for Symantec

[Anonymous Coward]

...do you fvck without condoms, too, tough guy?

Re:Style over function?

[Anonymous Coward]

OSX doesn't seem that functional to me. Unless you like the 3 functions that it lets you do.

Re:As an IT person who is deploying OS X

[Anonymous Coward]

instead of bashing it suggest a better one and explain why it is indeed better. your comment sounds like 99% of the crap that gets posted on forums online... whiny, ignorant and lacking evidence or detail.

Re:Style over function?

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, I hate OSX for the same reasons I hate windows. Unintuitive GUI with minimal functionality. Also, no matter how nice the GUI *could* look with their technology on OSX, their style is fucking ugly.

Re:As an IT person who is deploying OS X

[Vancorps]

This is a tired argument, I've got a few hundred PCs in my network and none of them have ever spread a worm. The network has been around for 10 years and this has been the case.

Yes the OS makes it mighty easy to screw up but it also allows a user to take action to protect themselves.

It isn't perfect thats for sure but this argument needs to stop. All the machines properly setup particularly these days with SP2 and Firefox are generally about safe. Start running IE and you run into problems but if you lock it down and cripple it you can generally still keep yourself safe.

I think the reason why people refuse to believe OS X is fundimentally more secure is simply because Apple hasn't been in the networking business for very long. They really have no proven track record. They do however utilize bits and pieces of software that does. Whether or not it is inherently secure is up for debate. Last I checked Samba on OS X did not support signing.

We'll see, in addition to our PCs we also have a few Macs that also run flawlessly barring hardware issues like anything else.

Dear Symantec:

[spir0]

hahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaaha ha.

You released your April Fools joke a little early.

I am happy knowing that if I enter the super-user account password while randomly surfing the net, it's my own fault.

I am happy knowing that if I get forwarded email based VBscript trojans/viruses/worms, nothing will happen because I have OS X, not Active X OS.

I am happy knowing that 99.99% of malware/spyware coders will not bother with Macs because 5% of the computers in the world still add up to a piss in Bill's pond.

I am comfortable in the assumption that once malware/spyware coders buy a Mac, and start coding on OS X, they will give up on their goals of world deterioration, and join the rest of us who have come to understand that computer utopia does actually exist.