Posted on 05/19/2011 5:37:00 AM PDT by johncatl
Over the weekend, I got an e-mail from an AppleCare support rep, who was responding to my recent reports of Mac malware being found in the wild. At least one prominent voice in the Mac community dismisses these reports as “crying wolf.” The view from inside an Apple call center says it’s for real:
I can tell you for a fact, many, many people are falling for this attack. Our call volume here at AppleCare is 4-5x higher than normal and [the overwhelming majority] of our calls are about this Mac Defender and its aliases. Many frustrated Mac users think their Mac is impervious to viruses and think this is a real warning from Apple. I really wish I could say not many people will fall for this, but in this last week, we have had nothing but Mac Defender and similar calls.
I contacted this person and arranged an interview. I’ve edited our conversation to remove any details that might identify this individual or the call center location, but otherwise this is a verbatim transcript.
Update In the Talkback comments, some people express skepticism about these conclusions. Be sure to read my follow-up: Crying wolf? Apple support forums confirm malware explosion. It includes direct quotes from Apple customers caught up by this attack.
(Excerpt) Read more at zdnet.com ...
Correct. It serves mainly as an excuse for Mac haters to gather and make stupid snarky remarks, to display their ignorance of actual facts.
So much fun to watch them take ZDNet's bait.
Mac users aren't a lot different from Windows users. Most of them are entirely capable of allowing Trojans on their system via social engineering attacks.
The reason this article and your post are unnecessary is that this subject is well known and hashed over in boring detail already.
The only reason ZDNet publishes articles like this is to get page hits with a headline containing "Mac" and "Malware" in the same line.
And you fell for it.
And then in your haste to post something nasty about Apple, you didn't even search FR first -- the prior post title contained the identical string "Mac Malware". Really now...
Uh huh.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2721644/posts
The difference being: PC users can get stuff like this passively, MAC users can’t. Also: consider the motives of your sources.
The malware is written for OS X, but still requires a user to intentionally install it.
I mean, I could write a program in about 5 minutes that starts deleting files anywhere on a machine, for pretty much any OS you can name. The trick would be in getting someone to install it and let it run.
There are three main lines of attack on any computer:
Application attacks are easier, but apps are a moving target.
Most attacks, and so far, ALL Mac related attacks, go after the User, who is the weakest link.
No surprises there.
Any OS has a certain percentage of users that are fool enough to install viruses that most of us would not. My point was that, now that Macs are more common and their market share is growing, there may be more viruses on the horizon that will affect OS X in the future. That would really shake the confidence of all those users that bought macs because they thought they couldn’t get viruses.
Yes, I’m a PC user and always have been. I was a desktop tech in a previous life and I worked on Macs when we got a call ticket. I was the only one who would because all the other techs didn’t like dealing with the condescending and impatient users that had them.
Please take the time to learn the difference between a "virus" and a "trojan". You sound very foolish, conflating the two.
Granted that most users (of any flavor of computer) don't know the difference, but you are claiming greater knowledge than them.
Trojans require some amount of assistance from the user. Viruses do not.
And while there are a small number of Trojans in the wild for Macs, there are ZERO true viruses for Macs in the wild, at the present time.
You seem to be an example of the condescending Mac user that I spoke of. I claim no great knowledge, but yes, more than the common user. Back in my day, they were called trojan viruses. Perhaps you could google it.
Trojans and viruses (or virii) are both malware, but are defined differently, and the difference is critical.
Both definitions hearken back to their namesakes — Trojans, named after the Trojan Horse story from mythology, are legitimate-looking programs that entice the target to install them, while containing a hidden “payload” of benefit to the attacker. They are purely social engineering attacks.
Viruses (named after the microscopic organisms), “infect” systems and spread to other systems. These typically exploit operating system or application vulnerabilities to infect and propagate.
Mac users aren't a lot different from Windows users. Most of them are entirely capable of allowing Trojans on their system via social engineering attacks.
The reason this article and your post are unnecessary is that this subject is well known and hashed over in boring detail already.
The only reason ZDNet publishes articles like this is to get page hits with a headline containing "Mac" and "Malware" in the same line.
And you fell for it.
And then in your haste to post something nasty about Apple, you didn't even search FR first -- the prior post title contained the identical string "Mac Malware". Really now...
Yup, everything the computing world loves about Mac users.
No, actually I'm an example of a condescending Unix user. :) I've been designing and using small computers for 35 years, and use ALL of them; I have no particular loyalty to Macs or any other brand. You could find this out on my FreeRepublic profile page if you wish.
Pray tell, when was "your day"? I've not heard the term "trojan viruses" used by anyone knowledgeable, to describe any variant of malware. I'll take your word for it that it's been used -- I'm just sayin', it's a dumb conflation of two different things. It's like saying that there's a term "car trucks" to describe some sort of vehicle.
Nothing personal. Just trying to sort out some of the misinformation.
May I ask, what's that supposed to mean, or imply?
So true. This ZDnet article is just the usual link-bait to grab eyeballs. One could almost imagine, without too much exaggeration, having Ed Bott gin up an article about OS X containing a built-in "Self destruct" capability. After all, the boot disk contains the Disk Utility app, and with a few clicks a user can (cue dramatic music) erase the entire hard drive!
Back to my oroginal point. Viruses, trojans and worms need to know names of folders and your OS structure to be effective. I don’t wish anybody to have them. Just sayin’, your aren’t impervious to attack if someone chooses to attack you like they did(and do)PCs.
HI! You've just received the AMISH VIRUS!
We in the Amish community don't have any actual computers or other technology, so this virus works on the Honor System.
Please send this message to all your friends and family members.
Then please log in as Administrator, and delete all your files.
Thank You! - The Amish Virus Team
Also please note that the so-called “Amish Virus” is actually, in fact, a (parody) Trojan, since it requires user action to work.
Time to get some coffee.
LOL! Low tech malware.
And only slightly less subtle than some of the successful, real malware dialogs.
Honest, I can't believe some of the stuff users click on. And those people vote, too. (shudder)
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