Thanks to dayglored for the heads up!
Apple OS X FUD
Down the Rabbit Hole
Ping!
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Posted on 11/05/2015 11:57:39 AM PST by Swordmaker
5 times as much of it... though cyberthugs unsophisticated
Cybercriminals have stepped up their efforts to hack Apple devices because MacBooks are rising in popularity, both in homes and the workplace. Nearly half of organisations (45 per cent) are offering Macs as an option to their employees, according to stats cited by Bit9 + Carbon Black.
OS X vulnerabilities and malware have grabbed the security community's attention this year. One example is XcodeGhost, which inserts malicious components into applications made with Xcode (Apple's official tool for developing IOS and OS apps).
Additionally, it has emerged that OS X El Capitan, which launched in September, contains serious vulnerabilities in its Gatekeeper and Keychain features.
Flashback -- the biggest Mac infection vector to date, which infected 700,000 devices on the back of a Java-based vulnerability -- struck in 2012. What we're getting this year is therefore a higher volume of less infectious nasties.
Malware authors targeting Macs are using OS X-specific mechanisms, rather than typical UNIX persistence methods commonly present in traditional malware samples, according to the security software vendor.
Hackers are adopting a targeted approach to Mac OS X systems, undermining the comforting notion that Macs are much more secure than their Windows counterparts in the process.
There may be a far greater volume of Apple-biting nasties this year but Mac OS X malware still isn't that sophisticated. More than 90 per cent of the malware samples from 2015 analysed by Bit9 + Carbon Black were found to use an old load command that became redundant with the launch of OS X 10.8 in 2012.
Malware authors failed to begin using Apple's new load command until 2014, and even then it was found in only a tiny percentage of malware samples.
Whilst there are 13 documented persistence techniques used by malware to remain on the targeted system, the research identified that just seven were present in the vast majority of OS X malware samples examined. This lack of variation gives threat detection teams an easier ride, as there are fewer places they need to check for malware in comparison with Windows systems.
The report (registration required), --2015 -- The Most Prolific Year in History for OS X Malware -- is based on over 1,400 unique OS X malware samples, aggregated over ten weeks from independent research efforts, open sources, real-world Mac OS X incident response experience, peer research, black lists, and contagion malware dumps amongst other sources.
By comparison there have been more than one million samples of Android malware to date. Vendors largely stopped counting Windows nasties years ago, but where estimates exist, numbers exceed 20 million even on the more conservative counts.
Persistence means that malware stays on compromised systems after a reboot, a key goal for malware slingers whichever computing platform their creations infect.
The Register's second example, FlashBack was a closed vulnerability in JAVA, from 2011 and the so-called 700,000 member MacBot was a HOAX perpetrated by Dr. Web in 2012, a Russian security firm trying to sell their new Enterprise anti-virus for Apple Macs. They claimed they had discovered a massive, coordinated spambot which was made up of 98% Apple Macs and only 2% Windows computers. . . and all of them were only in English speaking countries. Yet to get infected with this Trojan that carried the malicious code, one had to log onto a Russian language game website, download a character definition for an obscure Russian language game which had only been download 19,000 times, and install the character in the game, on a Mac which had JAVA installed, ignoring the warnings that the Flashback trojan was present in the download, ignore the warning when the intaller was run, and ignore it again when the game was run for the first time with the new character. Add that JAVA was not a default install on OS X Macs, and that Dr. Web's "honey pot" server which they claimed was "intercepting the infected Macs calling home to the malicious server" and recording the UUID's of the infected Macs had a list of Macs that did NOT have the required JAVA installed, had never had it installed, and included Macs that had never been sold, taken out of the box, and in some instances, had YET TO BE MANUFACTURED! Not one (read that as ZERO) infected OS X Macs were found in the wild. Not a single one. I had two in my office whose UUID's indicated were members of the MacBot. One had never been allowed connection to the Internet. The other did not have Java installed. Both were not infected. It was a hoax. In the space of a two-three weeks, the numbers being claimed infected dropped drastically from 700,000 to 270,000 by the second week, to 186,000 a few days later, to under 100k, to less than 50k, then disappeared completely from the news, never to be heard from again, as people reported NOT finding infected Macs, even in large installation locations such as universities.
Two years later, Dr. Web, when they were trying to sell their Dr. Web anti-virus for personal computers, announced they had found a Flashback MacBot of only 20,000 Macs. . . using a similar honeypot server. . . again, no Flashback infected Macs were ever found in the wild. Even in the original Flashback in 2011, the number of infected Macs was under 100.
Let them bite the Big Apple, and leave my Linux alone...
Thanks to dayglored for the heads up!
If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me.
Btw, those are both 13". But the Dell screen is much larger, and UHD.
Apple now sells second tier products at first+ tier prices. Apple has fallen behind to me-too status yet again.
The Dell XPS is nice, but that is NOT a 13.3" Macbook Air, Montag813. It's an 11.6" MacBook Air, otherwise the screen on the 13.3" MacBook Air would be close to the same diagonal size as the Dell. You are comparing Apple's to, er, Dell's of a different sizes. On a 13.3" Apple MacBook Air, the screen extends beyond the keyboard on both sides, while on the 11.6" Apple MacBook Air, the keyboard extends beyond the screen on both sides. You can see the difference in this comparison photo:
What Dell is claiming is that their new Dell XPS is a 13.3" notebook in the dimensions of an 11":
Large screen, small laptop: The virtually borderless infinityEdge display cleverly fits a 13-inch display into the size of an 11-inch laptop.
You are, by the way, comparing to an older design. Try comparing to the new 12" MacBook basic model. . . smaller, far thinner, far lighter, higher-resolution screen, more memory, more storage.
So much for Dell's claim of the XPS being the world's smallest, lightest notebook. . . It was already beat out in both categories by the Apple MacBook. They can only claim that by cherry picking an older model Apple notebook.
How hot are they, Johnny?
BwAHAHAHAHAHAHHA
Utter nonsense
You have to wonder how much these publications get paid from MicroSoft or other Windoz platform manufactures to write this stuff(?)! Macs and OSX are far from perfect but I have used Macs since 1992 and have had nothing but excellent service. Most of my computers were refurbished though I did buy a new LC and a new iMac + a MacBook Pro for one of my sons. In all that time I had 1 hard drive go bad (on the LC but lost no data - and by that point I had more than gotten my money out out of that thing. I know Dell users who can say the same thing but I’ve never worried about a virus nor reloading software or other issues many Windows machine users have had. Both platforms are pretty good today but I’m sticking with Apple.
Um, mine is 6th Gen Intel Core i7-6500U (4M Cache, 3.1 GHz), 8GB, 500GB SSD, 3200 x 1800 QHD+ InfinityEdge touch display. The display blows the MacBook away. You can't get anything that good at any price from the pricey Apple.
It's hilarious that the Apple fanboys here are attacking me. I actually went to the Apple store in AZ wanting to buy a MacBook (I used to be a big Mac user back in the day), and was shocked at how sucky the offerings were. They haven't updated these suckers in 2 years! So I went with the new Dell XPS 13. Wife just got the 15 which has a Thunderbolt port (she does video editing, for which it screams). Tim Cook took his eye off the ball. Perhaps in 2016 he will update these things to beat Dell.
It is strange, Montag, but Dell just doesn't offer a 500GB SSD in their customizable options for the XPS notebook. 256GB is the largest SSD you can configure. Why do I not believe you have a 500GB SSD in your configured notebook???
Correct...I misspoke. It is 256gb.
Why are you comparing your XPS to a MacBook Air or the MacBook? Why not compare it to a 15.4" MacBook Pro???
The MacBook Pro comes with 16GB of RAM (compared to your 8GB), an Intel i7 Quad Core which can reach 3.7GHz (compared to your i7 at 3.1Ghz) or you can upgrade to a faster i7 which can reach up to 4.0GHz (you cannot on your XPS). The 15" MacBook Pro can be upgraded to a 1TB SSD while your 13.3" XPS is limited to only a 256GB SSD, and the 15" XPS is limited to only a 512GB SSD. Too bad. The MacBook Pro comes with an entire suite of operational software included. . . but you have to pay extra for everything on your XPS, even to get an Office Suite. The MacBook Pro has two thunderbolt ports compared to one thunderbolt port on the XPS . . . The rest of the ports are comparable. . . except the Magpower port on the Mac. I'll grant you the higher optional native video resolution and touch screen of the XPS, but I question the utility of both. . . but both the MacBook Pro and this XPS are rated as retina grade screens, with the Mac capable of driving a much higher resolution external screen at 5120-by-2880 or two 4k external screens which the XPS cannot.
I have rarely used Safari. Does it have a good search function and bookmarks function? Can the bookmarks be transferred to Firefox and in the other direction?
And does it not track you?
Thanks
For using it on Windows 7......
Yes, and yes to Firefox. I am not certain about coming from Firefox. Bookmarks can be saved as html and then imported into anything that can accept HTML format bookmarks or favorites. Similarly, Safari can import saved HTML bookmarks or favorites.
Safari uses cookies like other browsers, but you can also opt for Anonymous browing in Preferences where no cookies are retained and no identifying information is transferred. You can also open a Private Browsing Window in which you can browse without leaving a record on your computer of where you have been . No caches, no history, no cookies, are retained when you close that windows and all its tabs. . . it's as if you never browsed at all.
I hope this helps answer the questions you have.
SeaMonkey also has Private Browsing Windows, so I’d not be surprised if the other Mozilla based browsers had it too.
Thanks much! I actually do have Safari installed. Just tried it and it keeps crashing. I will wipe it off and reinstall and give it a try.
I take it that on your own computer or laptop you use Safari instead of Firefox?
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