can macs get viruses?

redcard

anewhope wrote: »

Sounds like an impartial source to me..

So, they recommend you buy it....... and they become an impartial source?

Guess they can't really give an opinion on anything then

Are PC magazines impartial? Or are they all getting kickbacks from vendors?

jayme1

here is a short history of apple mac malware it's an interesting read: http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2010/11/24/apple-mac-malware-short-history/

[Deleted User]

redcard wrote: »

So, they recommend you buy it....... and they become an impartial source?

Guess they can't really give an opinion on anything then

Are PC magazines impartial? Or are they all getting kickbacks from vendors?

I think you've missed the point, but in any case I wouldn't put much trust in any computing magazine, there's always complicated relationships between them and manufacturers.

mr_fishbulb

cooldaz wrote: »

And if you read the reviews in Mac magazine on it they actually say not to bother buying it as its not needed

Because they are ignorant of what's out there.

marleyboy

cooldaz wrote: »

And if you read the reviews in Mac magazine on it they actually say not to bother buying it as its not needed

In 1982, 15-year-old student Rich Skrenta wrote the Elk Cloner virus, capable of infecting the boot sector of Apple II computers. On every 50th boot the Elk Cloner virus would display a short poem:

Elk Cloner: The program with a personality
It will get on all your disks
It will infiltrate your chips
Yes, it's Cloner!
It will stick to you like glue
It will modify RAM too
Send in the Cloner!

What may surprise some Apple fans is that the Elk Cloner boot sector virus predates IBM PC viruses by some years.


1987
The nVIR virus began to infect Macs, spreading mainly by floppy disk. Source code was later made available, causing a rash of variants.


1988
HyperCard viruses emerged that could run on early versions of Apple's Mac OS. One HyperCard virus showed the message "Dukakis for President" before self-destructing.


1990
The MDEF virus (aka Garfield) emerged, infecting application and system files on the Mac.


1995
Microsoft accidentally shipped the first ever Word macro virus, Concept, on CD ROM. It infected both Macs and PCs. Thousands of macro viruses followed, many affecting Microsoft Office for Mac.


1996
Laroux, the first Excel virus, was released. Mac users were unaffected by this new strain of macro virus until the release of Excel 98 for Mac meant they could become victims.


1998
It was in Hong Kong, in 1998, when the next significant Mac malware outbreak was first spotted. A worm - dubbed AutoStart 9805 - spread rapidly in the desktop publishing community via removable media, using the CD-ROM AutoPlay feature of QuickTime 2.5+
David Harley of Macvirus tells me that he remembers watching with interest as reports of Autostart spread from Asia to the rest of the world.
In the same year, Sevendust, also known as 666, infected applications on Apple Mac computers.

2004
The Renepo script worm attempted to disable Mac OS X security, downloaded hacking tools to affected computers, and gave criminals admin rights to the Apple Macintosh.
Hackers also wrote a proof-of-concept program called Amphimix which demonstrated how executable code could be disguised as an MP3 music file on an Apple Mac.


2006
Leap-A, the first ever virus for Mac OS X was discovered. Leap-A can spread via iChat.
The Inqtana worm and proof-of-concept virus soon followed.
A buggy proof-of-concept virus called Macarena appeared, written in Xcode. Every infected file contained the phrases


2007
Sophos discovered an OpenOffice multi-platform macro worm capable of running on Windows, Linux and Mac computers.
The BadBunny worm dropped Ruby script viruses on Mac OS X systems, and displayed an indecent JPEG image of a man wearing a rabbit costume.
The first financial malware for Mac was discovered. The gang behind the attacks developed both Windows and Mac versions of their OSX/RSPlug-A Trojan horse.


2008
Cybercriminals targeted Mac and PC users in equal measure, by planting poisoned adverts on TV-related websites. If accessed via an Apple Mac, surfers would be attacked by a piece of Macintosh scareware called MacSweeper. In June, the OSX/Hovdy-A Trojan horse was discovered that could steal passwords from Mac OS X users, open the firewall to give access to hackers, and disable security settings.


In November, Sophos warned of the Jahlav Trojan. Like in other malware campaigns, cybercriminals created a bogus webpage claiming to contain a video. Visiting the site produces a message saying that you don't have the correct codec installed to watch the video - whereupon the site offers you an EXE if you run Windows, and a DMG (Disk Image) file if you are using an Apple Mac.
Controversially, Apple issued a support advisory urging customers to run anti-virus software - but after media interest, rapidly deleted the page from their website.


2009
In January 2009, hackers began to distribute the OSX/iWorkS-A Trojan horse via BitTorrent inside pirated versions of Apple's iWork '09 software suite.
In the same month, a new variant of the Trojan was distributed in a pirated version of Adobe Photoshop CS4.
In March, Sophos reported on how hackers were planting versions of the RSPlug Trojan horse on websites, posing as an HDTV program called MacCinema.


In June, SophosLabs discovered a new version of the Tored email worm for Mac OS X, and hackers planted a version of the Jahlav Mac Trojan horse on a website posing as a portal for hardcore !!!!!! videos.
Shortly afterwards, the Twitter account of celebrity blogger Guy Kawasaki had a malicious link posted onto it, claiming to point to a sex video of Gossip Girl actress Leighton Meester. In reality, however, the link lead unsuspecting users to malware which could infect Mac users.


2010
The OSX/Pinhead Trojan (also known as HellRTS) emerged.
The backdoor Trojan horse can allow hackers to gain remote control over your treasured iMac or MacBook.
Once again, the malware was distributed disguised as a legitimate application - in this case, iPhoto, the photo application which ships on modern Macs.
More recently, the Boonana cross-platform worm appeared, using a Java applet to target not just Windows computers for infection, but Mac OS X and Linux too.

Early reports indicate that there are plenty of Mac users with malware on their computers - some of it is Windows malware, some Mac OS X, and some cross-platform.

There's no doubt that the Windows malware problem is much larger than the Mac threat - but that doesn't mean that the danger of malware infection on Mac OS X is non-existent.
http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2010/11/24/apple-mac-malware-short-history/

Sorry to dispel the Myth, but both PC and Mac are prone to virus attacks.

redcard

You know that is from Sophos? They make money from scaremongering and anti-virus.

How you could think that's an impartial source, I have no idea!

Now, you posted the Mac list, care to post the Windows list for comparison?

marleyboy

Theres really no need is there, I refer to the following.....

There's no doubt that the Windows malware problem is much larger than the Mac threat - but that doesn't mean that the danger of malware infection on Mac OS X is non-existent.

Being both a PC and Mac user myself, I know only too well that neither are immune from attack.

redcard

marleyboy wrote: »

Theres really no need is there, I refer to the following.....

Being both a PC and Mac user myself, I know only too well that neither are immune from attack.

Ahh, there we go. Didn't think you would. Funny that!

Is it because the Windows list would be about 10 billion pages long.

KenLuck

What can you say about mac's antiviruses?

mr_fishbulb

redcard wrote: »

You know that is from Sophos? They make money from scaremongering and anti-virus.

From their FREE Mac anti-virus product?