Yes, it does.
Posted on 03/08/2015 4:19:26 PM PDT by fatnotlazy
That has NEVER EVER been true. Do not believe anyone who ever told you that.
It is all just programming, and whether it is Windows, Linux, Mac OS or whatever, it has many routes of access. Only reason Apple was less hacked was fewer users and because of that hackers were both less interested and much less knowledgable with Mac operating systems.
Point being, anyone who told you Mac OS couldn't be hacked is either a liar or an ignoramus.
I saw it as humorous, but answered for those who wouldn't. :^)
Yes, it does.
I am an Apple user and have been since 1992. If you do not protect your computer that’s on you but Macs are not immune
I have never said that "Macs are immune." It depends on what you are talking about. I manage many Macs on networks. I know what I am talking about. Apple's OS X will protect you from all of the known 57 known Trojans and all of the trojan families. There are ZERO computer viruses and worms for OS X in the wild and ZERO that have ever worked. Not a single one of the OS X virus or worm candidates have ever been successful in over 17 years of attempts to make one work.
You are welcome to waste your computer's processor cycles with running totally unnecessary anti-virus software. That is what it is. USELESS to protect your Mac. Be aware that any 3rd party anti-virus ware also TURNS OFF Apple's own built in protections, which STOPS the malware at download, so that that A/V software can catch what gets downloaded. I find this a reprehensible practice as they do it so they can proudly say they protected you, when the OS will have done it more efficiently and more safely. Any other malware that it will find is ALWAYS Windows viruses found in emails.
I will go with my expertise and experience. . . not your anecdotal opinion that Macs "are not immune". For all practical purposes, they are protected from what is out there in the wild by the OS and Apple pushes updates when needed.
Not one of the Macs in my charge has ever had an A/V installed on it and not one of the Macs in my charge has ever been infected with any Mac Malware. EVER. That is how sure I am of the protections built in to OS X and how robust OS X and the underlying UNIX™ are.
That's not a "hack." It's taking advantage of naïveté.
The scam is getting you to call the number, not getting rid of a non-existent virus.
I appreciate your explanation. I will defer to your expertise and uninstall my interfering program.
You and I would also agree (I think) that most of the crapola that is out there gets installed by some user clicking on something they shouldn’t ;)
That is the way it is. . . but with the warnings the built in Gatekeeper system Apple includes with OS X, and the warnings a user would have to ignore to install a Trojan, it really takes "industrial strength stupid" to get infected on a Mac. They literally have to not just ignore three System Alerts, but to put in an Administrator's Name and Password to proceed three times to download, install, and finally, run, an application containing a Trojan. As you said, ". . .doing something they shouldn't."
Make sure you have your Mac's Gatekeeper system under System Preferences/Security & Privacy/General set to download only from "Mac App Store and identified developers." You can, on occasion, change that to download something you KNOW ABSOLUTELY IS SAFE, by clicking Anywhere, doing the download, and then putting it back to "Mac App Store and identified developers." If you do that, DO NOT IGNORE ANY WARNINGS THE SYSTEM MAY SHOW YOU ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE DOWNLOADING!!!
In the meantime, Gatekeeper wil scan any thing downloaded from an email link, brought in on a disk, or other source, and also do the same thing for anything being run for the first time.
You are running as a standard user, not as an administrator user, right? If not, or you don't know how to check, (this is not just for you) let me know and I will post steps on how to check, and also on how to change the user type.
I m running as a standard user. Thanks for all the additional info.
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