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Zombie Macs Launch DoS Attack
Cludge writes "ZDNet has a story (and several related articles) about how Symantec has discovered evidence of an all-Mac based botnet that is actively involved in a DOS attack. Apparently, security on the exploited Macs (call them iBots?) was compromised when unwary users bit-torrented pirated copies of iWork 09 and Photoshop CS4 that contained malware. From the article: 'They describe this as the "first real attempt to create a Mac botnet" and note that the zombie Macs are already being used for nefarious purposes.'"
... and laugh and laugh... Oh, we're Mac users - we don't need stuff like virus and malware checkers! Now, let the explanations begin about how this is a wonderful intuitive "feature" and not a flaw.
Three Squirrels
As a lot of people have probably mentioned already, how is it Apple/Mac OS X's fault that malware was installed on the computer? The malware is a program after all, which was given administrator privileges when the pirated iWork was installed. It didn't exploit anything; the user installed it manually. The same thing could happen on Linux/BSD for pirated programs that are binary-only. Same goes for any MSOffice for Windows from TPB.
So, you can infect OS/X computers after manipulating a program and tricking an user into voluntarily installing the malware!
I am surprised! Although of course, it would be more impressive if it was like in windows 98 in which connecting to the internet rendered you vulnerable. Or how about a more recent example in which you just had to plug a USB drive? Sorry but it still sounds very easy to fill a windows computer with viruses in comparison with this.
Copyright infringement is "piracy" in the same way DRM is "consumer rape"
I'm sorry old boy, but you're quite incorrect. GNU/Linux is, to all intents and purposes, flawless and immune to malware. You couldn't get into my software, for a start, how do you know which distro I'm running?
If, for example, I were running Gentoo and you put out a malware torrent of Adobe Photoshop CS4 (Mythical Linux Edition) and I torrent it. I couldn't run the thing becuase it wouldn't be built for my software environment! And even if it were, I'd be too busy emerging that new Linux kernel to bother with any of your pesky attempts at distraction with shiny software. Who needs Photoshop anyway? I edit all my photos from the command line, using ImageMagick -- only Linus Torvalds has worked out the command line switches required to compile X, so frankly the concept of having things in windows is an anathema to us GNU/Linux users.
So there you have it: if you want to make an OS completely impervious -- as GNU/Linux is -- to malware, simply make it completely impervious to all software! Then you've got two things to be smug about. Suck on that Macintosh users!
Uh-huh.
Protip: If you download executable code over bittorrent, you are an idiot, a loser, and a total n00b.
Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
Uuum... And how else are you going to get things like the newest software or games? Do you think I'm shitting money? I pay only for the things that really stand out and have a fair price. Adobe products and most games do not belong to that category.
And I'd bet money, you're doing it too. Which makes you a hypocrite.
Oh, and let me get this straight: Insulting other people still makes people assholes, right? So if I say you're an asshole, I'm not insulting you, but stating a fact. Is that correct? Because I think it is. ^^
Protip: If you have trusted trackers and release groups releasing on those trackers (like H2O), there is no big danger in installing them. Beware that this has also be true for the cracks.
Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.