Apple Mac users facing increased threat from viruses and malware

[boyzee]

Was reading this in a free paper on the train yesterday...

Once marketed as more secure than computers using Windows, increased sales have led to ‘a tipping point’ for Macs making them an attractive target for criminals.

One so-called scareware program is Mac Defender, which downloads itself on to the hard drive and demands payment to remove infections.

Though fake, hundreds of users are believed to have allowed the fake anti-virus program to be installed.

Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at internet security firm Sophos, said there had been an increase in malware aimed at Macs in the past few weeks.

‘Because Mac users don’t use anti-virus protection then they are seen as a soft target,’ he added. ‘Macs have become a victim of their own success.’

Joel Esler, of Sourcefire Vulnerability Research Team, said Mac Defender looks like a genuine application for the Mac OSX operating system.

‘There aren’t any telltale signs that it’s actually malware,’ he added.

‘No words are misspelled, the grammar is acceptable to the casual reader.

‘In the security realm we see this all the time on Windows systems.

‘But I’m guessing the Mac user community doesn’t have much experience with this type of scam.’

Read it here: http://www.metro.co.uk/tech/864040-apple-mac-users-facing-increased-threat-from-viruses-and-malware

[JayCub]

Looks like Mac users need to be informed that no operating system is safe these days, going from windows to a mac you would expect to know better, thanks for the news link boyzee

[LunarWolf]

I don't see Apple willing telling their customers "Hey, Mac is no longer invulnerable to virus/malwares" Ouch. That will hurt their revenue and their image. The less potential customers knows that Mac is vulnerable to malwares, the better it is for their revenue. They will brush it aside or sweep it under the carpet and say, "This is just a small issue. Mac is still safer than Windows"

As Apple is not likely to tell its customers of this kind of rogues, and not many Mac user are really computer savvy people who follows the security news, more and more user will be infected as they are easy target with no antivirus installed having believe Apple's claim that their Mac is completely bulletproof.

[Newbie Comp user]

Thanks for the info!
I've not always been a Mac fan so...
55% of me is rejoicing over this.
The rest of 45% feels pity.

Good luck to all Mac users. May this info give most (if not, all) an insight that there are no 100% safe operating systems. The fact that Apple isn't even informing their users really is a cheap move. Money over honesty? How selfish of you.

[LunarWolf]

Apple continues to sweep it under the carpet.

More info , read here.

Nice move Apple. Not.

[Ceyfer √]

The real problem is the adamant perception of the user itself. The latest Mac-based malware could have been prevented by simply ignoring the very same scareware pop-ups trick, that has been pestering the windows platform since 2006. The sad part is, most Mac users and its support people doesn't even anticipate that this thing will happen to them.

~ MacDefender and its variants are user assisted.

Modern day cyber-threats are now mult-platform and cloud based too!

[Newbie Comp user]

Apple continues to sweep it under the carpet.

More info , read here.

Nice move Apple. Not.

The question is... how far exactly is Apple going to make this drag on?

[LunarWolf]

Apple have issue an offcial way to remove the rogues.

More info here.

Finally. Good news for Mac users.

[Ceyfer √]

those who downplay the mac threat landscape by comparing it to the pc are missing the point. the mac will never be the pc, it'll never follow the same path or be in exactly the same place, but the mac community was sold false hope and many of them are either unaware or in denial about the fact that they were lied to.

macs can be attacked, they have been attacked, their attackers are enjoying increasingly numerous successes, and not enough mac users know it. it's a growing threat and there has yet to be a compelling argument put forward that it won't continue to grow. knowledge is the first prerequisite for people to be able to protect themselves. stop pretending everyone knows what you know or are smart enough to make the threat a non-issue, there's just too much variety amongst humans for that to be true

http://anti-virus-rants.blogspot.com/

[boyzee]

I think end of the day its the big AntiVirus companies who are making this rogue software because if you have ever had any form of this infection on your computer you will notice how real it looks.

Think about it they need sales for there product.

Anyway just a conspiracy thought...