Why You Shouldn't Panic Over Mac Malware

Earlier this week, we discussed reports that Mac malware was finally becoming a significant problem. Now, reader wiredmikey points out an editorial arguing that everyone should slow down and analyze the situation more calmly so the threat can be accurately assessed. Quoting: "According to Apple, the Mac installed base is approximately 50 million users. But according to Gartner, the number of Android handsets sold in 2010 alone exceeded 67 million units, giving it an installed base that is larger, and growing much faster, than the Mac base. If a large numbers of eyeballs is indeed the lure that causes criminals to write malware for a given operating system, surely Android is a more tempting target than Mac OS. ... I predict that the increase in perceived risks to Mac customers will give Apple the excuse it needs to increase its control over the Mac software ecosystem, by moving ISVs to the Mac App Store. It is no accident that the theme of the upcoming Lion desktop operating system is 'Back to the Mac': taking concepts that Apple employed successfully with the mobile version of OS X (iOS) and back-porting them to the desktop OS. One of those features is the introduction of the Mac App Store, an Apple-controlled storefront for selling and distributing applications. ... This provides buyers some assurance that their apps are from known points of origin and that they don’t contain malware, such as the Mac Defender Trojan horse.

Comments

Re:No need to panic, merely be more careful.

[hedwards]

Nice trolling. You do realize that even before MAC that security was more involved than that, right? Perhaps you might want to do some research before you post that kind of BS here. Setuid is necessary because some applications aren't properly programmed.

I can't help but notice that you're ignoring the fact that MAC came out before Windows got any sort of granular permissions and that up until Vista came out in 2006 that Windows effectively didn't have any ability to set permissions on the machines average users were using.

Re:Safari browser exploits

[jmac_the_man]

To install the malware, the user has to willingly enter their administrator password. No administrator password, no malware.

But wait, Macs don't get malware. The hip guy in the commercial was making fun of the old fart for that. So since there's no malware, anything that wants my password must want it for a good reason, right?

Live by the incompetent, die by the incompetent.