Posted on 12/05/2007 9:45:20 PM PST by webschooner
Tech ping material?
Just wanted to drop in and say “hah hah”.
Get the $1 iPhones instead.
“relies on tricking users to download and install their malicious software”
To install and run an application still requires admin privledges and ok-ing a message about the app, along with the admin password.
This is different than viruses/malware that hit by opening an email or a website - or worms that spread through the network without any user action required.
So, as far as I know, there’s still an order of magnitude better security. And I don’t know what will ever secure the system from a user who installs unknown software on their system.
HF
Yup. So far everything I've seen requires the active participation of the user. Unless you remove the ability for users to install software or save files, (thus rendering the computer largely non-functional), you can't guard against such things.
iPod |
|
Send FReepmail if you want on/off iPing list WARNING: This is a high-volume Ping list. Turn your headphones down |
|
The List of Ping Lists |
That's also true of windows malware. The biggest difference is that there have been few sophisticated psychological attacks on Apple users.
That’s because it’s a fake Chinese joke. The “iPhones” term there wasn’t referring to the cellular phone made by Apple. It was instead referring to the fake earphones.
Actually, that's not true. While some virus/trojans have required some action by a user, others most definitely have not.
From what I understand, the average lifespan of an unprotected (i.e., sans firewall) windows box on the internet is a matter of seconds, and that's with no user intervention at all. To my knowledge, there are no such attacks for Macs in the wild.
AmP
I'm not sure this is correct. I know it's true for many, however I know there are worms that don't require user action at all, and I believe opening some files will infect the computer. Opening a file is a user action, however on the Mac for it to run, it's identified as an and the user has to take further action to allow the app to run - approval and admin password. I think in Windows with the browser integration and OS scripting integrated into applications, you have a bigger vulnerability. So far anyway.
Run new software, yes; save files, no. What you can do is set up an admin and user account and make the user account the default. The user can then do everything basic except run new apps.
They cannot install new OS updates and this can be seen as either a positive or negative. It would then require an admin to administer new OS updates.
Sorry, I just realized I linked to a non-censored version of that pic in #8. Please kill.
Doesn’t matter. Unlike Linux users many Mac users are rocks, sucked in by the interface.
Saying that these people won’t participate in killing their machine by not opening Jessica Simpson porn email is giving them way too much credit.
Many PC users are rocks without an interfact to get sucked into.
If you have to be a techie to use a machine, it limits its value to the general public. And once you don’t have to be a techie... well, you got rocks.
Since Windows includes a firewall, on by default, that point is moot. Cable and DSL modems also act as firewalls.
I point out that I maintain about 50 Windows machines, none of which have been compromised in the last five years. The only non-free security program is AVG, which costs about 10 dollars per workstation per year.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.