Mac platform faced 58 malware threats from Q2 to Q4 2011 - report

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  • Reply 21 of 43
    "Mac OS X endured 58 separate malware attacks from April 2011 to December 2011, a small fraction when compared to Microsoft's Windows operating system, according to a new summary from a security research firm."



    First line of column. 58 is NOT a small fraction. It is a number. The RATIO of OS X to Windows malware attacks is a fraction.
  • Reply 22 of 43
    In New Zealand I hear they call the smaller variant (3.5") stiffies.
  • Reply 23 of 43
    drdoppiodrdoppio Posts: 1,132member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by geekdad View Post


    ... But as market share goes up the dark side will write more programs and try more ways of getting Mac users to compromise their machines.



    I don't think that's a real threat... more likely, as Macs trickle down to less-educated people, the chances of Mac users harming their systems by reckless behavior will become higher... but even that is not very feasible, since OS security has become a lot more reliable on all systems during the past ten years.



    I also haven't used or needed any antivirus protection in the last 5 years, and am always very curious of people who have encountered viruses. How do they get them? Where?
  • Reply 24 of 43
    I did a quick search for some numbers about windows and came across this:



    http://www.gdatasoftware.co.uk/about...r-viruses.html



    The last numbers are for the first half of 2010 but i think it gives a very good indication and a conservative estimate of mine would be around the 2 - 3 million mark for all of 2011.



    2,000,000 / 58 = 34,482



    So thats how many times more NEW threads are affecting Windows..



    I DO feel sorry for them.. now back to my mac





    [EDIT] ok i realised now 58 was only April - December, but i think you get the point..
  • Reply 25 of 43
    drdoppiodrdoppio Posts: 1,132member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by seltzdesign View Post


    I did a quick search for some numbers about windows and came across this:



    http://www.gdatasoftware.co.uk/about...r-viruses.html



    The last numbers are for the first half of 2010 but i think it gives a very good indication and a conservative estimate of mine would be around the 2 - 3 million mark for all of 2011.



    2,000,000 / 58 = 34,482



    So thats how many times more NEW threads are affecting Windows..



    I DO feel sorry for them.. now back to my mac



    You are right, I have exactly 34,482 times more viruses on my Windows 7 box than you have on your Mac.
  • Reply 26 of 43
    lilgto64lilgto64 Posts: 1,147member
    Maybe it wasn't 58 different threats but only 58 individual computers affected



    I wonder how many of them were proof of concept type things - and or never found int he wild - and or never caused any actual harm.
  • Reply 27 of 43
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by DrDoppio View Post


    You are right, I have exactly 34,482 times more viruses on my Windows 7 box than you have on your Mac.



    well if your posting comments here, i would take a wild guess that your quite computer literate and therefore dont find it too difficult to keep your windows machine virus free. Unfortunately most people dont even know they should look out.. if you can successfully explain to my mum what a computer virus is and how she can rid of them, or that clicking on an attachment is maybe not the best idea unless you know what it is.. then i will draw my hat to you.



    I have a windows machine too and have quite successfully managed not to attract any viruses - at least that i know of.



    Since i have non on my mac you must have non on your windows machine.. but watch out as soon as I have one, there will be 34,482 flying your way..
  • Reply 28 of 43
    neilmneilm Posts: 985member
    I wonder how many of these threats are Adobe Flash and pdf related? We see a constant flow of "critical updates" for these.
  • Reply 29 of 43
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by timgriff84 View Post


    Has anyone actually experienced one of these things ever even on a pc? I've mostly not had any security software on any of my machines, but whever I do install some to check the only thing they've ever picked up is themselves. The same goes at places I've worked which have always had security installed, in the last 12 years I've never seen anything come up.



    So your computers are the ones that keep sending me spam!
  • Reply 30 of 43
    mrstepmrstep Posts: 513member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post


    Based on the flawed concept of security through obscurity Mac OS should have some viruses by now and iOS should have a lot more.



    Remember, these are malware threats in the form of trojans not actual viruses.



    Yep, I'm happy to see that they at least called it malware and pointed out that they were trojans. I've seen way too many places where this would be called 'viruses' just to make the headline more exciting. Though even so, I'm sure we'll see comments like that here too.



    Download and install (generally with admin permissions) random crap from the internet and ANY platform can be at risk.
  • Reply 31 of 43
    mrstepmrstep Posts: 513member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by timgriff84 View Post


    Has anyone actually experienced one of these things ever even on a pc? I've mostly not had any security software on any of my machines, but whever I do install some to check the only thing they've ever picked up is themselves. The same goes at places I've worked which have always had security installed, in the last 12 years I've never seen anything come up.



    I had malware (adware) get installed on my wife's machine by her cousin who was installing various file-sharing apps. When you'd bring up a web page, click a link, and suddenly have random ad windows pop up, that was irritating and it was sucking 100% of her CPU as well. (Well written? ) I didn't wait for a root kit to show up, but got her off of Windows too since she does the banking online and I have just moved to a Mac anyway.



    However, my brother, his wife, and my parents have all had their Windows boxes totally taken over - as in 'why is my outbound internet traffic so heavy?' or 'hey, one of the multiple virus scanners I have is saying I have a root kit and none of them seem to be able to remove it' taken over.



    My parents were quite smart (in a parent sort of way) about system security and were running their XP box on DSL without a firewall - on reinstalling to remove an infection, their machine actually was re-infected before they even were able to update virus definitions. My sister-in-law had her Win7 laptop rooted just a few months back - it was the USB thumb drive exploit you may have read about after grabbing files from a machine at her school and bringing them home.



    So... no, I don't think I ever had 'real' malware in my home, but people getting this crap is definitely more than anecdotal.
  • Reply 32 of 43
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by geekdad View Post


    Thats been my experience as well.....i have never had a virus on a Windows computer...ever! I can also say the same for all of my Apple computers as well! I think it is a matter of safely using your computer. I don't ever see the Mac platform having the virus/security problems there are on the Windows platform. But as market share goes up the dark side will write more programs and try more ways of getting Mac users to compromise their machines.



    geekdad, if you go back to the article you will see the statement from the researchers:



    Quote:

    "As we correctly predicted back in May, Mac malware has not scaled continuously due to market share..."



    in fact with the introduction of OSX, the incident of virus/trojan impact dropped precipitously compared to the previous MacOS6/7/8/9. Apple used to ship anti-virus software with Macs because there were as many virus vulnerabilities in those earlier OS versions as there were on Windows. And that was with only 1-2% of the PC market. Anyone remember the classic macro-viruses?



    So as the researchers indicated, we can shoot the whole "security through obscurity" meme in the head and let it rest in peace. With millions of Macs in use, you cannot convince me that hackers aren't out there drooling over being able to farm that virgin territory. But as Windows security increases that creates pressure across other platforms, so you will see spikes in phishing, social hacking and other "softer" hacking modes.



    But hey, we haven't heard from the flock of Windowz apologists who are normally lurking in the eaves here...



    DISCLAIMER: I am Microsoft certified and have financial interests in both Apple and Microsoft
  • Reply 33 of 43
    mrstepmrstep Posts: 513member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by spinnerlys View Post


    This
    and this
    .



    Sorry, the lower image is of a 3.5" hard disk according to my mom. Of course, someone who "runs Google" on her machine using "the E" isn't the one you may want to turn to for tech advice.
  • Reply 34 of 43
    I once had a guy hide all the files in his User folder....on purpose.
  • Reply 35 of 43
    tinman0tinman0 Posts: 168member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by JBFromOZ View Post


    what is a floppy?



    A failed porn actor.
  • Reply 36 of 43
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by irnchriz View Post


    Go into the BIOS and enable PATA or IDE mode under SATA operation mode.



    Won't let me. The only place I can get is a RAID BIOS utility, and it only has one hard drive. I've tried absolutely every method of getting into that submodel of that model's BIOS. It just doesn't work. Thanks for the help, though.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by digitalclips View Post


    But why would you want to though? Just pop XP into VMware on the Mac.



    Because he doesn't have a Mac.



    It has a CD drive, so even if I wanted to install Seven to get around the SATA problem (it's way too slow for that), I couldn't. I have a disc of Windows 98 laying around, but something tells me that won't work, either. No concrete proof, mind, just a hunch.



    Oh, and I've discovered that even if I COULD find my old hard drives, that wouldn't matter. There's only one ATA port on the motherboard and only one ATA port on the ribbon cable in it? and that goes to the CD drive. So it would be between putting in the OS disc and having a hard drive on which to install it.



    It's like The Gift of the Magi, except I want to punt this thing into the snow with my bare feet, not caring that most of my toes would be broken along the way.



    It was built for him by some shady guy that does all manner of illegal activity (so he's loaded beyond belief) so I imagine that's how he managed to have a brand spanking new-style motherboard with a PENTIUM FOUR on it and a SATA drive with XP installed magically somehow.
  • Reply 37 of 43
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by tinman0 View Post


    A failed porn actor.



    Or a swim in the North Sea.
  • Reply 38 of 43
    mr. memr. me Posts: 3,221member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by geekdad View Post


    Thats been my experience as well.....i have never had a virus on a Windows computer...ever! ....



    This shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of computer malware. The purpose of most computer malware is not to make geekdad's life difficult. Their purpose is to enrich their authors. Obviously, there are malware titles that will clearly damage your computer experience and performance. They are the work of amateurs. Professional malware may reside on your computer for an extended period of time without your knowledge.



    If you are certain that your Windows PCs have never had viruses, then prove it. Boot your Windows PCs from an external drive and scan them for viruses. You don't have to report back because I know the result.



    As for the claim but F-Secure, it would be interesting to read its definition of threat. Every claim of new MacOS X malware receives breathless coverage by Mac-oriented sites like this one and clucking by Windows fanboys. If there had been 58 new malware threats in 2011, there there would have been more than one new threat per week. There was not even a rumor of a new threat per week.
  • Reply 39 of 43
    Gee, I've learned more about how to reinstall Windoze XP here than anything about Mac Viruses.



    The graphs that are shown should be bar graphs rather than filled in area graphs. When you look at them, you see the area under the curve where in actuality these graphs are made from a few points of data over a wide time scale. This leads to an greatly inflated impression of reality. Two widely spaced data points do not make an area.
  • Reply 40 of 43
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by timgriff84 View Post


    Has anyone actually experienced one of these things ever even on a pc? I've mostly not had any security software on any of my machines, but whever I do install some to check the only thing they've ever picked up is themselves. The same goes at places I've worked which have always had security installed, in the last 12 years I've never seen anything come up.



    you are kidding right? Do you ever use the Internet on those PCs ? Do yo go to more than 3 websites?
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