Posted on 01/03/2016 5:58:53 PM PST by Up Yours Marxists
I've just heard from him/her about his/her "mission" with regard to Apple and Apple users, and have decided it's best to let him/her proceed without further comment or advice from me.
> Yes, IT guys should be checking for it at sensible choke points.
Agreed, of course.
> No, end users shouldn't be trying to eradicate the world of malware when they're running suitably secured systems but other people insist on using long-promiscuous OSes.
End-user (e.g. desktop) machines should only be responsible for self-protection. If, for example, you're on a Mac, I consider it prudent to run something like ClamAV to augment the more limited built-in anti-malware detecting capabilities of OS X itself.
Detection of Windows or other non-Mac malware can be left to the real mailserver -- assuming your desktop does its mail receiving and sending through one.
As a user of Unix systems since the mid-1980's, I have a very good feel for the inherent security and stability of the BSD UNIX that forms the foundation of OS X. It's the primary reason my central home system (the one I'm typing on now) is OS X.
But that doesn't speak for the upper-level Mac and third-party applications that have nothing to do with Unix, such as my third-party mail client and browser. It's more for their sake that I run the ClamAV. It's very lightweight, and has no discernible negative impact on my use of the computer (and yes, I develop software on it).
However, YMMV and I acknowledge your right to do as you please with regard to how you configure your machines and their protection.
:-) Thanks and Happy New Year!
Actually - I did this a few years ago to test some theories a friend had thrown at me. Spent a few weeks with the built-in firewall completely taken down.
Nothing happened.
Got anything else for me to try?
One has to REALLY stretch to put OS X and iOS at the top of any vulnerability list! As has already been posted, exploits have been rampant in several pieces of software, as well as operating systems - easily exploited that many apparently still are (with Flash being a massive security black hole of death) - and I still have to make regular visits to my Dad’s to disinfect their two Windows-based PC’s - neither browse porn or other nefarious sites. Yes, they occasionally fall for the “click here to install..” garbage (that can pop up even WITH anti-malware running). I’ve tried to overcome their proclivity, but I’m afraid the “old dog/new trick” adage is accurate in their case.
I suppose the report above also fails to differentiate between known and corrected “possible” holes and malware that is installed intentionally by even known software from the original/authorized sources.
Yes, but of course that was the point of the article and this thread. Anything to make Apple look bad.
My original objection (now far upthread) was to the lumping together of ALL the various entries on the CVE into a single ridiculous TOTAL, that was then not only trumpeted as meaning something, but fingered as an indicator of greater or lesser security. Utter bullsh*t misuse of statistics.
It's widely known and acknowledged that over the years, both Microsoft and Apple lumped as many flaws into a single "report" as possible, to minimize the number of reports and thus the misleading "number of vulnerabilities" totals that make for click-bait headlines. *sigh*
They are but "tales told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing".
The good news, perhaps, is that this thread DID bring out some useful information regarding how to protect systems. That, at least, justifies its existence.
Interesting assertion. Are you speaking of mailservers or webservers primarily?
Thanks for the good work you do. I have a Mac, IPhone 5, IPhone 6,and IPod. Frankly, I don’t give a rat’s a$$ if anyone likes it or not. If people want to use something different, they are free to knock themselves out. They may use whatever they like. I certainly do.
Given what microsquish has ben pulling with windows 10, i don’t believe it.
This “story” breaks and at the same time an attack piece on homo tim cook? Someone’s given marching orders to go after apple.
Ya think?
And it's awful coincidental that Microsoft has begun cannibalizing its own by declaring Windows 7 to be dangerous (and therefore naturally you should move to Win10).
No, I'm fully aware that the underlying OS of OS X is UNIX and that UNIX is over 40 years old. But what YOU seem to have forgotten is that UNIX has undergone more examination and correction than any other operating system in history and has been through the fire of exposure to every type of attack. You are the ignorant one. Those vulnerabilities have long been closed. Only in your imagination are they still open.
You again trot out your LIE that I work for Apple. . . But the evidence is stronger that YOU work for Apple's competition, given your rabid fear of Apple having any success. You KNOW why I post or respond to Apple threads but you continue this constant drumbeat of lying about me. A LIAR you are, and apparently, stupid as well, because you refuse to learn the truth.
Web servers. Links to the code may be sent via email, but the malicious code is coming from web servers.
In the mid-90’s while working for the guys who yearly earned the FED t-shirt in Vegas, I heard a curious tale about why MAC’s were vulnerable to viruses. As the story goes, the earliest phreakers turned hackers hatted Bill Gates for screwing Steve Jobs out of millions after stealing the GUI environment idea from Apple. They turned their passionate hate for Bill’s alleged greed against all things Microsoft and passed the same hate to future hackers down the line. Couple that with the low market share of Apple, Microsoft products have had to live with all sorts of malfeasance (ideological, for sport, and otherwise). Some might say Microsoft is better positioned to deal with malware than Apple is due to their long battle waged through the years. I have heard that since Steve’s passing, the loyalty to the old anti-Microsoft hacker jihad may wane finally opening the way for hackers to go after Apple products as they have done with Microsoft (i.e. Apple may no longer be the beneficiary of many black hat hacker’s benevolence). If this is true and CVE Details is correct, I would be very careful in running any Apple product without a virus protection among other tools.
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