Re: I switched to Firefox because--Solved
From: Mark (mark_at_anywhere.org)
Date: 02/06/05
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Date: Sun, 06 Feb 2005 10:40:49 -0500
Mac OS 9 and earlier had some virus problem, but none so far for Mac OS
X. Earlier Mac viruses do not impact Mac OS X (UNIX). I would never
run Mac OS 9 and earlier because its a clunky outdated OS; debatable
among avid Mac users.
This is similar to a Windows users still using Windows 3.1.
On 2/6/2005 10:34 AM, Alias:
> "Mark" <mark@anywhere.org> wrote in message
> news:%23ygIbAGDFHA.560@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...
> | On 2/6/2005 10:15 AM, Alias:
> | > "Mark" <mark@anywhere.org> wrote
> | >
> | > | AV software increases the cost of ownership. Linux and Mac OS X do
> not
> | > | require AV software.
> | >
> | > They will if they ever become popular. It's not due to the innate
> security
> | > of Linux and the Mac but due to the fact that very little viruses are
> | > written for those platforms. Macs can, btw, get viruses and have.
> |
> | Some people still rely on myths for their beliefs.
>
> Speak for yourself:
>
> From http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-520537.html?legacy=zdnn
>
>
> Watch out: Viruses on the Mac
> By Stephen Beale MacWEEK.com May 7, 2000, 5:00 PM PT
>
>
> Macintosh users largely escaped the bite of the "Love" bug, but viruses and
> similar agents have been part of the Mac landscape for many years. The first
> Mac viruses, nVir and MacMag, appeared in 1987, the latter originating from
> a Macintosh magazine in Montreal. More recently, users contended with the
> notorious AutoStart worm that invaded Mac systems worldwide in 1998.
>
> Viruses, worms and Trojan horses -- the three main categories of computer
> miscreants -- remain a much bigger problem for PC users than their Mac
> counterparts. Of the 42,000 viruses counted by Symantec in October, only a
> tiny handful target the Mac, and none poses a serious threat to Mac users,
> especially if you have up-to-date anti-virus software and observe other
> common-sense precautions. The most recent virus definitions from Symantec
> Corp.( symc) and McAfee.com Corp. (mcaf) -- the two major developers of
> commercial anti-virus software for the Mac -- guard primarily against macro
> viruses that attack Microsoft Word 6, which is no longer in widespread use.
>
> But Macs are not immune from infection. The most memorable recent example
> was AutoStart 9805, the first known Macintosh worm, which originated in Asia
> in 1998 and soon spread around the world. Using QuickTime's AutoStart
> feature, the worm and its variants invaded Power Mac systems from infected
> media if the CD-ROM AutoPlay option was enabled. Contaminated systems
> suffered from corrupted files, unexplained crashes and other symptoms.
>
> A virus invades a computer by attaching itself to one or more host programs
> or to the boot sector of a diskette. When an infected program runs, or a
> computer boots up, the virus replicates itself in other files on the system,
> but generally not to other systems. A virus spreads to other computers only
> through incidental contact -- when users exchange floppy disks or download
> files. Worms, in contrast, do not need a host program to replicate and tend
> to spread aggressively to other systems. A Trojan horse is a malicious
> program that masquerades as a useful one.
>
> The AutoStart worm prompted developer John Norstad to retire Disinfectant, a
> shareware program that many Mac users had relied on as an alternative to
> commercial anti-virus packages. Norstad told users that Disinfectant was not
> designed to protect against worms, and he advised them to buy a commercial
> program such as McAfee's Virex or Norton Antivirus, which has developers
> with more resources for responding quickly to outbreaks.
>
> The "Love" bug and last year's Melissa virus, both of which are limited to
> attacking Windows PCs, combine elements of a virus and a worm. They resemble
> viruses because they use an e-mail program as their host, but they act like
> worms because they can send copies of themselves to other computer systems.
>
> Neither can infect Mac OS systems because they are written in VBScript, a
> scripting language that is not supported on the Macintosh. However, as some
> users learned, the viruses can attack the Windows partitions on Mac systems
> running PC emulators -- including Mac files mapped to those partitions.
>
> Many Mac users were hit by the Microsoft Word and Excel macro viruses of
> 1997, which differed from other viruses in their ability to attack across
> the platform divide. Viruses are generally specific to one operating system,
> but because the macro viruses hid themselves in Word and Excel templates
> they infected Mac and Windows users alike, although some strains caused more
> serious consequences for the latter.
>
> The virus invaded Word or Excel when an infected document was opened. The
> infected programs would then save all documents as templates along with an
> embedded copy of the bug. The virus spread when users exchanged Word or
> Excel documents with others. Word 98 and Excel 98 include built-in
> protection against macro viruses, so the bugs are a concern only for those
> still running the previous versions.
>
> Another class of Mac viruses targets HyperCard stacks. The first known
> HyperCard virus, MerryXmas, was not written to be destructive but, due to a
> bug, sometimes causes HyperCard to quit. Another notorious virus, Blink,
> causes stacks to flash on and off.
>
> HyperActive Software, a developer of HyperCard software, maintains extensive
> information about HyperCard viruses and their remedies on its Web site.
> Norton Antivirus and Virex offer protection against these viruses, as well
> as the macro viruses and AutoStart worm.
>
> Attempts to spread misinformation about nonexistent viruses are almost as
> big a problem as viruses themselves. For example, after last year's Melissa
> virus outbreak, many users received e-mail messages similar to this:
>
> "This information was announced yesterday morning from IBM; AOL states that
> this is a very dangerous virus, much worse than 'Melissa,' and that there is
> NO remedy for it at this time. Some very sick individual has succeeded in
> using the reformat function from Norton Utilities causing it to completely
> erase all documents on the hard drive. It has been designed to work with
> Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer. It destroys Macintosh
> and IBM compatible computers. This is a new, very malicious virus and not
> many people know about it."
>
> In addition to needlessly scaring users, the hoaxes tend to create e-mail
> congestion as people warn their friends and co-workers about the bogus
> virus. Symantec and McAfee Web sites both maintain updated lists of hoaxes.
>
> Some security experts have warned that Web sites could be the next major
> source of virus attacks -- not through traditional software downloads, but
> by placing malignant Java or ActiveX code on the desktop.
>
> Symantec raised this frightening prospect in a background document on its
> Web site. "Although it has not yet happened, it is possible for virus
> writers to use ActiveX and possibly Java to introduce viruses, worms and
> Trojan horses onto a Web-surfer's computer, turning Web pages into virus
> carriers. By simply surfing the Web, users could expose their computer to
> viruses spread via ActiveX controls, without downloading files or even
> reading e-mail attachments. The virus writers could then use the virus to
> access RAM, corrupt files, and access files on computers attached via a LAN,
> among other things."
>
> Symantec noted that Java is much more secure than ActiveX, and would thus be
> less prone to such mischief.
>
> Symantec and McAfee both maintain up-to-date information about Mac and PC
> viruses as well as educational material on the subject. In addition,
> ICSA.net, a provider of computer security services, provides some Mac virus
> resources.
>
>
> |
> | Mac OS X does not have any viruses, but there is a proof of concept
> | virus for Mac OS X that would require manual propagation and execution.
> | Linux may have a few viruses, but those are minor viruses and they do
> | not get distributed throughout the world in a day's time as they would
> | in Windows.
> |
> | > | Windows is just a high maintenance operating
> | > | system when computer users only want to use their system and not
> always
> | > | maintain it and do monthly updates. No matter what AV software used
> in
> | > | Windows, its no where near 100% effective.
> | >
> | > Well, I have never gotten a virus and I have used Win
> 95/98/98SE/Me/2000/XP
> | > HE and XP Pro since 1997. If never isn't 100%, I'll settle for it
> anyway.
> | > Norton used to be good when Peter Norton was in charge and he had a
> dynamite
> | > desk top for Win 3.11. Now, all I hear is problems from Symantec users.
> |
> | Norton products have worsen over the years and so has McAfee's.
>
> I don't use either one. I use TrendMicro.
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