Mac Snow Leopard Security Ping!
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A built-in virus/malware checker in Snow Leopard?
Here’s the link for Intego VirusBarrier for the Macintosh OS X ...
http://www.intego.com/VirusBarrier/
But, I’m not saying that you need it... :-)
Mac needs a VirusBarrier?
Malware detection coming in Snow Leopard?
by Michael Rose
Aug 25th 2009 at 9:00PM
We usually look at news updates and blog posts from antivirus vendor Intego with a bit of a gimlet eye, since the company has been known to spread a little bit of that good old FUD when it comes to the everyday risk of malware faced by most Mac users (that is to say, pretty much none). Today, however, the Intego blog pointed out an unheralded feature of the forthcoming Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard update: some basic malware checking built into the operating system, reported by users of the beta version.
As the post notes (and sites such as The Register and ZDnet corroborate), when a problematic DMG is downloaded or mounted — containing one of two known malware components — the Finder throws the alert pictured above, warning the user not to install the software in question and to throw away the disk image. While this is a nice touch for the two security risks in question, The Register notes that the filter appears to only catch files downloaded through some of the more common apps (Mail.app, Entourage, Safari, Firefox and iChat among them) but not files copied over from removable media. It doesn’t cover the wider gamut of threats out there, nor would it detect or block Windows malware that a Mac user could unwittingly transmit; for all of those scenarios, a true AV app (paid or free) is what the doctor ordered.
http://www.tuaw.com/2009/08/25/malware-detection-coming-in-snow-leopard/
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It’s a good idea, if true. Any OS is only as safe as the wetware behind the keyboard. Some folks got infected earlier in the last year or so by downloading infected images of commercial software from warez sites. After all, when you download “free” software and think you’re saving hundreds of dollars, you’re inclined to say “yes” to the authentication request that comes on install. Whoops— you just authenticated the installation of some Bad Stuff.
So, it’s a smart thing to build into an OS and/or into a browser. The former would make more sense—in the image or disk-mount module, to be specific—as it would protect any browser, torrent client, thumb drive or other vehicle the user might employ.
This is bad news for the antivirus/anti-malware folks, though. About the only thing their software has to do on OS X is pass judgment on disk files and images.
I’m using 10.5.8 and have wondered if I can forward malware in a email that I received to a pc user...
An anti-virus is unnecessary in Mac OSX. Like Linux and other UNIX platforms, viruses and malware are not a concern because the system runs under a least privileged access. You need a good third party firewall like Intego’s Barrier X, but that’s about it.