Posted on 05/31/2010 7:32:31 PM PDT by Gomez
Cheers!
I think this was why Postscript ran out of gas, rather than because of technical issues getting it to function as a wysiwyg monitor driver. I don't doubt that there were some speed issues, though.
[the spyware] is downloaded and installed on users’ computers via the installation process for unrelated applications...That's just a piggybacked piece of malware; those have been around for a long time. Does it travel by itself and infect a new machine without operator intervention? Apparently, no. So it's not a true virus, it's just a nasty trick.
Same Old Stuff, needs a human operator to do anything. By longstanding agreement, the battle to produce an OS-X virus requires that it be self-replicating, like the ones that plague Windows. If your candidate requires the action of an operator, it's not self-replicating.
"HI, Computer User! Please execute these commands now:Still waiting for a self-replicating OS-X virus...
cd /
rm -rf *
Thank you!!"
...precipitated in large part by the security breach attributed to Chinese hackers; Google's IT leaders apparently feel that Microsoft's OS represents too great a risk across the enterprise to leave it in place.By this time next year, netbooks will be sold at Family Dollar/Dollar General type stores. :')
Most Windows spyware/malware get installed in the same fashion, or through some kind of trickery or the other, like some file with a deceptive name which users click on to install some spyware or malware.
I am not going to split hairs on how the sypyware or malware is installed. If we did that, we'd exclude most Windows malware too.
You asked for an example of malware on Mac OS. You got it pretty darn quick too. No excuses.
So sorry.
As I understand it, those Google computers that got breached were using the outdated, much less secure IE6, which Microsoft has been begging users to migrate from for years.
http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2010/01/15/239973/mcafee-fingers-internet-explorer-in-google-china-hack.htm
Not to mention, outfits from big banks to NASA to insurance companies have had their servers hacked, and they were not using Windows either.
Several:
1) Scheme, which I’d like to get to know a bit better {had about two weeks on it in a programming languages course; the Huffman idea actually started as a extra credit option for an Algorithms class.}
2) Delphi, I got it 85% working with a nice dictionary object I made, a passable message object (which was either a single message or a group of them), and a couple of algorithms for manipulating messages and lists. (IE on a list of these message objects, sorted by the number of instances that it appeared, ‘eat’ the N least messages to produce a new message to be inserted into the list.)
3) Ada, using the Ada.Containers.Maps generics I basically did the same operation as #2; it helped me both with better understanding Ada’s I/O, Ada’s Generics, and the strong interface/implementation separation as it was the first non-trivial program that I’d written in Ada. {I also broke it after getting it working with a “brilliant idea” that didn’t work... so now I have a non-working Huffman en-/de-coder to show for it. LOL}
> Most Windows spyware/malware get installed in the same fashion, or through some kind of trickery or the other, like some file with a deceptive name which users click on to install some spyware or malware. I am not going to split hairs on how the sypyware or malware is installed. If we did that, we'd exclude most Windows malware too. You asked for an example of malware on Mac OS. You got it pretty darn quick too. No excuses. So sorry.
That's sorry, alright.
I asked for an example of self-replicating malware for OS-X.
I'm not interested in discussing malware that requires a user to make a stupid decision, or which piggybacks on other legit code. Sure, those are vectors. But they have NOTHING to do with the robustness of the operating system against automated attack, which is the topic of our conversation.
Of course, as you say, "If we did that, we'd exclude most Windows malware too." True. But the point is, there's still a lot of Windows malware that IS self-replicating, and those are the ones that are most dangerous, most feared, and most valuable to the virus writers because they can be invisible.
Joe, you know your response contained its own indictment -- the word "most", meaning "not all". I don't need to rub it in.
That's exactly how most Windows malware get installed.
I am VERY interested in that, and so should you. You leave that out, and there is nothing much to discuss.
I am not interested in nitpicking and excluding the most common methods by which malware gets installed.
Bottom line, the Apple Mac OSX HAS been infected by malware. That's all that counts.
Ok, how about C/C++?
Can we consider that a virus? (Dictionary.com, Def 3: “a corrupting influence on morals or the intellect; poison.”) And considering that it vectors in on ALL Unix/Linux systems this means that it’s also in Mac’s OSX...
> That's exactly how most Windows malware get installed. I am VERY interested in that, and so should you. You leave that out, and there is nothing much to discuss.
No, Joe, you leave that COMMON CRAP malware out, and what's left is the stuff of interest to this conversation -- the differences.
> I am not interested in nitpicking and excluding the most common methods by which malware gets installed. Bottom line, the Apple Mac OSX HAS been infected by malware.
And if I throw a Mac on the concrete floor it breaks, just like if I throw a Windows PC on the same floor. That is not a difference. I was trying to point out a DIFFERENCE having to do with automated attacks.
> That's all that counts.
No, it doesn't count in this conversation at all. You're having a different conversation, with yourself. Enjoy.
Now THAT is an entertaining question! :)
Only problem is that, unless you've written a self-replicating code generator/compiler/distributor, you still need a human being (programmer) to advance the C/C++ virus to infect another machine. So it doesn't fit the bill: "...a successful self-replicating virus..."
But I grant you that it's an interesting thought.... I wonder if it's possible, or for that matter, if it's been demonstrated? Maybe somebody in robotics or AI has an example...?
You’re right — there was a hefty licensing fee. Adobe started to see the light on this issue — too late, IMO, but they finally did start to come around.
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