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6 Ways Apple Is Polishing Mac Security
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hlubinv8l
hlubinv8l,
 User Rank: Apprentice
6/29/2012 | 4:49:21 PM
re: 6 Ways Apple Is Polishing Mac Security
It's easy to understand why Apple had to change the statement that Macs don't get viruses. Since some Mac owners run Windows on their Macs (either in Boot Camp or in emulation), those users can get Windows viruses infecting their Windows installations.

Even though Windows viruses have no effect on OS X, they still count as viruses. So for those people running Windows on a Mac, the statement would not be true.

The statement should have read that Mac OS X (the operating system) has never been susceptible to viruses.... simply because there has never been an OS X virus.

There have been a few examples of malware for OS X in the past, like the recent Flashback Trojan, but nothing that spreads to other users without user interaction (as Windows viruses do).
Tronman
Tronman,
 User Rank: Apprentice
6/29/2012 | 5:10:46 PM
re: 6 Ways Apple Is Polishing Mac Security
Want to buy a bridge?
ANON1251568162539
ANON1251568162539,
 User Rank: Apprentice
6/29/2012 | 6:58:10 PM
re: 6 Ways Apple Is Polishing Mac Security
YouGÇÖd have to prove that you own it.
ANON1251568162539
ANON1251568162539,
 User Rank: Apprentice
6/29/2012 | 7:11:59 PM
re: 6 Ways Apple Is Polishing Mac Security
The essential question is GÇ£Who gets hurt here?GÇ¥

Novice Mac users want a walled garden. Especially, those who fled from Windows.

Power users get vetted third party apps. And a means of automatically removing accidentally installed malware.

Expert Mac users and Linux advocates get to take the level of risk they choose.

Malware writers donGÇÖt lose, because they were never on Macs anyway. You canGÇÖt lose what you never had.

The only losers I see are the Windows Anti-virus venders who have been fraudulently coercing people into buying their worthless software. They were the oneGÇÖs who corrupted the word GÇ¥ virusGÇ¥ into meaning any malware regardless of type or function.

Apple doesnGÇÖt lose when they give up a contention which no one believed.
ANON1237925156805
ANON1237925156805,
 User Rank: Apprentice
6/29/2012 | 9:19:34 PM
re: 6 Ways Apple Is Polishing Mac Security
It's hard to inject viruses into any UNIX-based system, whether it be Mac OS, Android, Linux, or any of the original flavors of UNIX. This publication has clearly explained why that is more than once. That why since Apple released OS X they have legitimately made the claim that Windows viruses can't hop over to the Mac.

At this point malware other than viruses has become the dominant threat, particularly via the interet. Plenty of malware that is OS agnostic can wreak as much havoc on a Mac as it could on a Windows box; the UNIX advantage has diminished. Flashback is emblematic of this situation.

Apple is wisely reframing its strategies and its marketing language to reflect this changing reality. This is what they should do, so no need for outsized praise. On the other hand finding fault with a strategy that was more than adequate several years ago is not useful.

It would be nice if Apple did a better job of explaining patches but what's most important to me is frequency and efficacy of patches and ease of installing. Apple seems to be heading down the right path on that front. Now let's just turn on the security features rather than ignoring them. . .
Andrew Hornback
Andrew Hornback,
 User Rank: Apprentice
7/3/2012 | 2:39:50 AM
re: 6 Ways Apple Is Polishing Mac Security
I think the biggest takeaway here is that Apple is trying to do what it can to protect the user from their own actions which is the primary attack vector on the OS X platform.

The theory goes that if you keep your Mac updated (i.e. all of the relevant OS updates, all of the security updates, all of the application updates), that you'll be much better off with regards to defending against threats in the wild.

However, keeping updated is part of proper system hygiene - and there aren't too many people that are diligent about it because Macs are supposed to be easier to work with and impervious, so users don't think twice about "set it and forget it". That's the bane of the security pro's existence and the best case scenario for the malware crowd.

Andrew Hornback
InformationWeek Contributor
MROBINSON000
MROBINSON000,
 User Rank: Apprentice
7/12/2012 | 8:10:34 AM
re: 6 Ways Apple Is Polishing Mac Security
This article does a great job of summarizing the aspects regarding Mac security. Recently, Kaspersky said that Apple is 10 years behind Microsoft in terms of security. But, we think itGÇÖs more significant to look at the software, not the operating system when thinking about security.
As security professionals, we expect Apple to be more transparent and change the way they deal with security researchers.
For more information on our vision, check out this article http://blog.securityinnovation...


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