Game Theory, Antivirus Improvements Explain Rise In Mac Malware 319
Sparrowvsrevolution writes "Four years ago, security researcher Adam J. O'Donnell used game theory to predict in a paper for IEEE Security and Privacy when malware authors would start targeting Macs. Based on some rough assumptions and a little algebra, he found that it would only become profitable to target Apple's population of users when they reached 16% market share. So why are we now seeing mass attacks on Macs like the Flashback trojan when Apple only has 11% market share? O'Donnell says it turns out he may have underestimated the effectiveness of the antivirus used by most Windows users, which now makes overconfident Mac users a relatively vulnerable and much more appealing target. Based on current antivirus detection rates, O'Donnell's equations now show that victimizing Macs becomes a profitable alternative to PCs at just 6.5% market share."
Hey Apple Users... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Hey Apple Users... (Score:5, Insightful)
Stupid people doing stupid shit with technology and getting viris outbreaks?
Yeah, that's confined to ANY particular OS.
Sorry, but if Linux had enough market share, they'd be targeted too. Computing is by definition insecure, because you'll always have stupid people doing stupid shit.
Re:Hey Apple Users... (Score:5, Interesting)
Pretty much this. In most cases the weakest link is between keyboard and chair and chain is as strong as its weakest link.
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Re:Hey Apple Users... (Score:5, Insightful)
What's funny is that NONE of the anti-virus products blocked it, indicating just how useless their products are.
Re:Hey Apple Users... (Score:4, Insightful)
Anti-virus software is good at blocking threats that are not zero-day threats. I.e. known viruses reused. Much of stuff out there that actually does damage falls into this category (think conficker for example).
The only thing that can protect you against zero day threats is having solid security practices on user's end. And even that is not guaranteed (think valve source code theft).
Re:Hey Apple Users... (Score:5, Funny)
Well, hey, then Mac AV will work a lot faster than Windows AV since there's only one virus in the definition database!
Re:Hey Apple Users... (Score:5, Interesting)
This just in, Antivirus products can't block shit they haven't seen before!
Film at 11.
Re:Hey Apple Users... (Score:5, Informative)
I'm sorry; I love my Macs BUT this last Flasback virus would easily get into your computer without doing anything. All you had to do was visit a page with the virulent java applet for your computer to be infected. Once infected it may attempt to ask a password off you to dive further into your system, but even ignoring it did nothing, the virus was fully active in your system.
Some tech geeks love to think "I'm too smart for me to be infected", and blame anyone with a virus of being stupid. Ironically, those tech geeks" tend to be some of the most vulnerable users for real virus infections, since they refuse to use any anti-virus solution because it will "slow down their system" or patch their systems with latest updates because "it's working fine and I know what I'm doing."
That’s how viruses actually work. Everything that requires you to do something to accept it is qualified as a Trojan. No amount of tech savvinnes makes anyone less likely to get virus infections (unless you are savvy enough to update asap and run some form of antivirus.)
THAT being said:
0.7% flashback victims were Linux machines
0.6% flashback victims were Windows 7 or Windows 8 PCs
0.3% flashback victims were FreeBSD
0.5% flashback victims were machines running an unidentified OS.
How on Earth does Linux got more Flashback infections than Windows??? Hint: I said why above. At least Macs have the excuse of Apple negligence at patching the vulnerability.
Re:Hey Apple Users... (Score:5, Informative)
To add (thanks for the edit button, slashdot!)
Source of the numbers [arstechnica.com]
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At the same time, having basic security practices still thwarted it from being installed on your system. From F-Secure [f-secure.com]:
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/slam head against desk
Difference between Virus and Trojan:
Trojan disguises itself, pretending to be something else, to get into your system (named after the Trojan Horse [wikipedia.org].) A program that says pretends to be a photo file (with a jpg icon) or pose as an antivirus installer would count as a Trojan.
Virus simply activates and goes into your system when, lets say, you insert a floppy disk or visit a website. As long as it can infect a machine without the user opening it up, it's considered a virus.
The last java based Flashback was a virus, not a Trojan.
Not only did it require the user to provide a password, as oh_my_080990890 points out, but even if it hadn't, it still wouldn't be a virus, and it still would be a trojan. Trojan versus virus is not a case of "happens with or without user interaction". Viruses infect files - VBS viruses can even infect .html files (ie: Code Red and others from a while back), or image files, or anything else, but they do need a file there to infect, of whatever type of file that virus is intended to infect. Yes, the boot
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Problem is... everyone is getting all butt hurt over stupid semantics. Virus and trojan cannot be compared, because one is payload, one is methodology.
Here is a really simple sentence that in summary, to anyone intelligent, would end all of this.
[Potentially] every computer/OS combo and variant is susceptible in some form or fashion to have code executed with or without specific intent and resulting in undesirable effects.
Right? I didn't say any of the "bad words". So, everyone agree? Good, let's end the bi
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The first variant did. The second did not.
Just hit up the previous Slashdot Flashback article and you'll see the article title that specifically said that it could go "without user interaction." -- i.e. it was a drive by that installed itself without user interaction.
Sounds like a virus (by anon's definition) to me.
I have a different interpretation: Trojans are applications that pose as legit programs (like codecs or games) that trick you to run the program. Viruses (trojans being a subset of viruses) is
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It didn't. It attempted the user to enter a password to dive deeper into the system, but it was perfectly functional without the extra priviledges.
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1) Macs install java in a nearly transparent fashion the first time you encounter it (I have it on my new iMac with Lion and have no clue when it got installed.)
2) Your setting for Java applets is not the default (or at least not the default at the time of the virus spreading, the defaults changed due to the virus)
BTW, this iMac did not get infected with Flashback, Im certain due to it avoiding me since I run Xcode.
Oracle is not to blame on this one, Apple is not supporting it but they are still the ones di
Re:Hey Apple Users... (Score:5, Funny)
So does Ubuntu Linux have 6.5% share yet?
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I wonder if the Atari ST or Amiga had 17% market share when either of them were fertile ground for malware infections.
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The Amiga did, at least during the 80s. Commodore 64 had greater than 50% market share and Amiga had half that. (After 1988 the IBM PCs became dominant.)
Re:Hey Apple Users... (Score:5, Informative)
Linux does have significant marketshare in the server and smartphone arenas. Servers are generally more secure than desktop machines (not to mention better maintained), so there's naturally fewer points of vulnerability - this holds true for Windows servers as well. As for smartphones, I've seen a lot of articles about Android malware recently although I haven't personally encountered any.
Re:Hey Apple Users... (Score:5, Informative)
Generally more secure, but Linux servers are still vulnerable, especially when they are neglected from being looked after. I have signed onto a company that kept a mail server running for years with no updates -- turns out that exim had a security vulnerability and there was a rootkit living on the system for at least a couple years. If the machine was being properly monitored, the chances of infection would be very low (keep on top of updates!), and it would have been detected rather quickly even if it did happen despite that first point.
I still don't know what the attacker gained but apparently it pays off enough to pry on mismanaged Linux servers.
Re:Hey Apple Users... (Score:5, Insightful)
Servers are more secure than desktops in the Linux arena primarily because there is no idiot user sitting in front of the keyboard to click "Ok" when malware tries to install itself. Also, servers aren't typically used for surfing and downloading, so the malware doesn't get a chance to try to install itself.
Only once since I started programming in the late '70s have I seen a machine that was infected without the intervention of a user disabling the anti-virus or installing pirated/downloaded software. Once.
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That's true of Windows too. In fact, it's true *regardless* of the OS.
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APK
P.S.=> Linux Security Blunders DOMINATE in 2011-2012, despite all /. "FUD" for years saying "Linux = SECURE" (what bs that's turning out to be, especially on ANDROID where it can't hide by "security-by-obscurity" anymore & is in the hands of non-tech users galore - & EXPLOITS ARE EXPLODING ON ANDROID, nearly daily)
... apkLinux
Nice roundup of articles, but at the end of the day anyone that uses a blanket statement like "Linux = secure" is as stupid as anyone that says Macs are virus-proof.
I know Linux server admins, and all of them take security seriously and acknowledge they are as vulnerable as any other OS if you just lay back and look at them pretty. You have to make sure they are updated, secure, and properly configured for your needs with minimal permissions granted to processes that need them.
Re:Hey Apple Users... (Score:4, Interesting)
Yes, however, I think the GP just venting due to all of the "I have a Mac, so I'm immune to malware" and "Oh, they had problems because they used a PC, they should have gotten a Mac!" that has being going on for so long, even by some here on slashdot.
But, of course, you are correct, it is the user that is the biggest security vulnerability of a computer, in most cases.
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You should get out more.
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The odd thing is, I've never actually heard anyone ever say "I have a Mac, so I'm immune"
Perhaps not, but I can honestly say that I have heard, "But Macs don't get viruses, right?"
Re:Hey Apple Users... (Score:4, Informative)
Yeah, it's not like Apple has ever done anything to encourage that thinking...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQb_Q8WRL_g [youtube.com]
Re:Hey Apple Users... (Score:4, Funny)
I have to disagree with this. I have an iPad, and I can assure you, it really, truly is MAGICAL.
Here's what casting a lightning bolt was like before my iPad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZ04mfAY2BU [youtube.com]
Here's what it's like AFTER the iPad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxYGT51JTfE [youtube.com]
Apple is always explicitly literal in their advertising copy, and any suggestion that they aren't is just crazy talk.
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"Macs don't get viruses." was a pretty common phrase when I worked help desk back in the early 2000s.
Re:Hey Apple Users... (Score:4, Informative)
Notably, "macs don't get viruses" is not the same as "macs can't get viruses". The former was true in the early 2000s.
Re:Hey Apple Users... (Score:4, Funny)
"The odd thing is, I've never actually heard anyone ever say "I have a Mac, so I'm immune""
Oh, boy. You must not sit around Best Buy, Apple Stores, or 4chan's /g/ very often.
Hell, I hear that in the workplace all the time. I go over, infect their machine, and laugh at them.
Re:Correct (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.apple.com/why-mac/better-os/#viruses [apple.com]
Is this true? Yes, but only because the malware they are talking about was written specifically for Windows. It has nothing to do with the "built-in defenses in Mac OS X that keep you safe". It is at best disingenuous because the average user reads that to mean "Macs can't get malware".
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You want to compare track records? MacOS X, since its inception as NeXT, has been around since the late '80s.
Only now, in 2012, are we seeing the first widespread outbreak of malware. I don't buy the installed base argument. If Mac developers can make money off of the platform, then malware writers sure as hell can, too - more, with its exclusivity, it means they have a large pool of potential targets largely to themselves. I think Apple's willingness to gut and rebuild their systems when desired, and to r
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There are two ways to read the GP's quote. Guess which one most Mac-heads use?
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Re:Correct (Score:4, Insightful)
Two examples I've ran into:
Limiting it to just people who have IT experience that I know:
(1) One person literally told me that it is impossible for a mac to get a virus.
(2) One has said that, since he uses Chrome and MacOS, he can't get malware, period.
That's maybe 10% of the MacIT people I've dealt with, the rest have been in the 'it is less likely' camp.
From the non-IT Mac users, it's closer to closer to half, that fall into one of those (or similar, change the web browser), categories.
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Yes, but the post of mine he was replying to, I never said "always" or even "more often than not". None the less, there are plenty of us who are tired of that particular irrational vocal minority.
Re:Hey Apple Users... (Score:5, Interesting)
Sorry, but if Linux had enough market share, they'd be targeted too.
"Linux" is not one operating system. There are very secure distributions, and then there are distributions that are not so secure, and then there are distributions that can be secure if you stick to best practices.
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Just as important, there are multiple distributions. Just as it makes it hard to write commercial software that will run under any version of any distro, it makes it hard to write a virus that will work under any version of any distro. The odds are that Linux viruses will be predominantly scripts because those are relatively portable and applications which run scriptlets don't have nearly the same level of security as the OS itself.
Even then, the massive fragmentation of the application base will severely l
Re:Hey Apple Users... (Score:5, Funny)
Now, I know all you apple "power users" are going to get all mad and scream "You're calling me dumb! I'm not dumb!" I'm not saying you're dumb... I'm saying all your friends are dumb... and you make bad technology choices... I'm sure you made a very smart, well informed decision when you chose the wrong operating system.
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Linux IS a Target, MOST internet servers are Linux, and Linux servers hold a lot of money in information.
But you see, they are such high value targets they do hacking to get into them and not a spray and pray virus.
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That's called sniff testing. your logs are full of "is there something here?" and "is this ran by a moron using one of these 20 common passwords?" after that it's handed to a real hacker.
read up on what you are really seeing, these guys are getting sophisticated at their automation to find soft targets.
Re:Hey Apple Users... (Score:5, Insightful)
How it security by obscurity treating you now?
Security by obscurity was not the problem. Complacency was the problem.
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How it security by obscurity treating you now?
It's actually been a pretty good strategy thus far. Even if I'd gotten this particular Trojan, my score would still be much lower in the Mac column than in the Windows column. I'll take the 20 years of virus-light computer use, thank you :)
The real question is, now that we have "caught up", are there any decent anti-virus packages for the Mac?
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The current exploit is because of Java not OS X. The exploit remained unpatched b
Hogwash (Score:3, Informative)
Nay! (Score:5, Funny)
Tis a feature, allowed by the Almighty Jobs as a test thy faith in Apple .. so only mayest the True Believers be granted the next iDevice.
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From The Top of my Head ... (Score:2)
CC.
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Maybe it makes sense that they wouldn't start actively targeting Apple until 11.6% market share, but somebody's got to be first and if you are a virus-guy and come across some big vulnerability that will allow you to rapidly infect a ton of machines...you go for it. Maybe he wasn't even targeting apple but stumbled across a vulnerability that would work and jumped on it.
Also, how much does one account for the purpose of the attack? If yo
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:One factor frequently left out (Score:5, Insightful)
So what you're saying is the fact that Apple overcharges for Macs is actually a factor in the increase in Mac malware? Oddly enough, makes sense.
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What has changed with the marketshare is that now Macs are used by the upper-middle and upper classes extensively at work and at home
Apple computers have always been expensive. Even as far back as the Apple II, it was the high end 8-bit computer. Later, the Atari ST was based on very similar hardware to the Macintosh, but it did color, and cost half as much.
Comment removed (Score:4, Interesting)
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Most malware these days isn't out to get your personal data, it's only purpose in life is to add another machine to the botnet. For this kind of thing, home computers are actually more valuable, because they're less likely to be firewalled etc.
And from botnet pespective, the only thing that matters is bang for the buck - how many boxes can you infect per dollar spent writing the malware. Which, of course, still favors Windows machines, simply by virtue of there being many more of them.
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Smugly said Sir, you tell them! :P
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I've pointed that out before, here on Slashdot. You have a lot of businesses using Windows, not only for their infrastructure, but for the majority of their desktop/laptop computers. A lot of companies only do perimeter security, so once you get inside the firewall, you have a nice, ubiquitous, unprotected network to target, perhaps with hundreds of computers, and profitable data to steal.
If you target Macs only, you get what? Home users? The design department of a company? A lone executive, maybe? I
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They call them "Trojans" because they don't want to admit that macs can get viruses. It's all just "malware" nowadays, and the lines are blurred to the point of one being indistinguishable from the other.
The vast majority of malware on PC's are trojans as well, technically. That doesn't stop mac users from decrying all the "viruses".
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http://apple.slashdot.org/story/12/04/14/216231/new-targeted-mac-os-x-trojan-requires-no-user-interaction [slashdot.org]
"requires no user interaction"
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Oh, and what does it say about Mac users that they'd rather admit to being morons (for executing a trojan) than admitting their computer might not be as invulnerable as they thought?
Reversal from the 1980s (Score:4, Informative)
Back in the 1980s, Macs were very tempting virus targets. They had multitasking operating systems at a time when the rest of us were running DOS or CP/M (although Amiga users and users of DOS multitaskers like DESQview had a small market share). Luckily this was before the internet, so the only real risk was downloaded software.
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You rarely if ever downloaded software in 1980s. Stuff was moved around on floppies and other magnetic media such as audio tapes for example. There was some stuff done over BBS but downloading stuff over slow analogue modems was a pain in the ass (I'm thinking 9600 baud and lower that was common in late 1980s).
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You aren't kidding. I'd download some stuff from bbses to use personal or to just put on my bbs, but the majority of the stuff I had for download was obtained from friends in person. My favorite part of the day in was recess / lunch where I'd get to swap disks.
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On the flip side, most downloaded applications and games in the '80s were way under a megabyte in size. So although the modems were slow, it really didn't take more than a few hours to do a download.
So I call bullshit. I and most "bit heads" I knew downloaded software and games voraciously in our university days from the BBS systems of the day. What was different is that each of us would download something different, copy it to multiple floppies, and we'd each have a copy.
When the links are slow, yo
They were tempting because they were easy (Score:2)
Back in the 1980s, Macs were very tempting virus targets. They had multitasking operating systems at a time....
But that was not why they were tempting. They were tempting targets because it was REALLY easy to spread a boot-sector virus on floppy discs, even when you didn't hand out the discs yourself you'd just include it on a floppy disc image of some game or utility that was being pirated and it would spread like wildfire from that person to all friends...
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Mac OS wasn't any more multitasking than DOS was. Programs like DESQview allowed you to switch tasks in DOS, which is done pretty much the same way as "multitasking" in Mac OS. Macs didn't support preemptive multitasking until OS X. The Amiga had it in 1985.
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Everything got viruses back in the 80's. Why? Because viruses were new and cool, and kiddies liked writing them.
Nowadays, kiddies prefer hax0ring the interwebs. Writing viruses is passe. So now, the only people that write viruses are those trying to make money from it.
When you don't have a large marketshare, making money is more difficult. So smaller platforms are simply ignored.
This new model suggests that the financial benefits of attacking windows have become less than the benefits of attacking Macs
only 11% now, but for how long (Score:2)
"Vastly oversimplified" (Score:5, Insightful)
He says himself that the equation is vastly oversimplified, and a small change in antivirus detection range changes the answer from 16 to 6%. That means the equation is all-but useless and pointless to try to "predict" anything except, apparently, in hindsight.
I could have plucked any number I liked out of the air and wrote a (reasonable) equation to make it come out with whatever answer I wanted, even basing it on "game theory" (which has very, very, very little relevance here, actually) - I could have done that even before I graduated in mathematics (including Game Theory) over a decade ago.
When enough Mac's exist to make it viable (and market share has little to do with it compared to "number of computers active on the Internet" of that particular model), viruses will target them. Guess what, same for every other platform on the planet. If someone miraculously sells a popular device based on MINIX that millions start buying, eventually someone will write a virus for that platform.
Seriously - don't give it the press.
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I could have plucked any number I liked out of the air and wrote a (reasonable) equation to make it come out with whatever answer I wanted, even basing it on "game theory" (which has very, very, very little relevance here, actually) - I could have done that even before I graduated in mathematics (including Game Theory) over a decade ago.
I'm curious to know what model in game theory he used. My experience with game theory from my Master's degree is political in nature, so the ones I'm most familiar with are the Prisoner's Dilemma and the Stag Hunt. Neither of these really apply in this situation. I can see what he's trying to say, that the combination of Apple's marketshare growing large enough while Microsoft's users average growing more security-conscious makes Apple that much more attractive of a target, I just don't know what game th
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That means the equation is all-but useless and pointless to try to "predict" anything except, apparently, in hindsight.
Welcome to the world of soft science, where everything causes cancer and housing prices continue to rise without limit.
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The point of game theory isn't to make precise exact predictions about social phenomenon. They are just trying to show how the relationship of many factors could cause a platform to be targeted by viruses.
Rarely does the math of game theory make precise predictions in the real world. They give you a general guideline, but there are too many variables to account for everything.
Winning formula (Score:4, Insightful)
Let's see what our wise men can come up with:
1) Write a "scientific" paper, make assumptions, use some "algorithm", predict event A
2) Wait
3) Observe empirical evidence
4) Revise initial paper
5) Bask in peer admiration
Did I miss anything?
Re:Winning formula (Score:4, Insightful)
That's how Science works.
You build a model, you predict things, you test it. If it fails, you fix your model, you test it again.
Now we'll see how his next prediction holds and we can then judge his model
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Wrong. In your example that's the equivalent of saying the Ideal gas law is:
PV = nRT + C where C is some constant and r is 8.3144621 J/mol K so the pressure
is (nRT + C)/V
A better example is claiming that the pressure P is (nRT)/V with a given value of nRT and V.
In the former case the model is simply wrong, in the latter case the model is right and has a given starting condition.
All they've said is now that the temperature has changed the pressure is P'. You could easily plot the necessary market share vs
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Did I miss anything?
6) ????
7) Profit!!!
Thanks (Score:3)
Now even you can quote Game Theory thanks to Stanford Engineering online course offerings!
Anti-virus must be very effective then (Score:2)
Since the number of hosts a virus will likely infest grows exponentialy with the share of the population not imune to it (until that share reaches somewhere near 25% of the hosts), those anti-virus should make infecting a Windows machine orders of magnitude harder.
As usual, the press article doesn't include the actual equations. So, it is impossible to know if the study took actual infection spread equations into account.
Urge to deny "overconfident" (Score:5, Insightful)
While I realize there may be some outrage over the "overconfident" label, it does make sense in terms of learned behavior. More specifically, Windows users have known malware has been rampant for so long that:
A) they're used to having to use antivirus, firewalls and other "security" type apps
B) Windows has steadily improved its built-in firewall and anti-trojan features to combat real and perceived vulnerability
C) Windows-based PC OEMs and system builders install anti-virus by default and have for quite some time now.
I can't say whether Macs get a/v software by default but despite our joking about macs not being susceptible to malware, that view is held by far too many mac users. While it might be true statistically speaking relative to Windows, it is unhelpful in being a rightfully vigilant denizen of this wretched hive of scum and villainy we call the Internet.
No they don't (Score:2)
Mac have no A/V stuff on them by default. Apple does do some anti-malware fighting on a per-item basis these days with updates, but there's no A/V program as you'd normally think.
You can get them, but they don't come installed, and Apple doesn't have or recommend any because they are interested in admitting that viruses are now a Mac thing too. Some of the major A/V vendors have Mac versions. Kinda hit and miss as to which companies have decided it is worth it to port to the Mac. Sophos is one I know does (
How do like them apples? (Score:2)
Security through obscurity is no way to go through life.
Another explanation and a question (Score:2)
Apple has dominated the high end of the -personal- computer market at least in the US, making it a more lucrative target for attempts to steal personal information.
On the other side, is there any way to measure how easy/difficult it's been to develop successful viruses on platforms, MacOS, Windows (XP, Vista, 7, 8), various Linux distributions, etc?
Failed to take into account value of targets (Score:3)
Probably failing to take into account the value of the targets compromised was the biggest flaw.
Since the average apple user will be far more profitable (apples are a luxury good and thus will have a higher percentage of wealthy users) to compromise than the average pc user, he needed to adjust the numbers downward to take that into account.
Stupid users get viruses and malware (Score:3)
It doesn't matter the platform. Mac, Windows, Linux. Stupid users get viruses. They're the ones clicking on every farking attachment in every farking e-mail they receive without first doing a simple visual check of the email (ie. reading it). They're the ones downloading executables from unknown or untrusted sources and running them on their computers. They're the ones that believe every little farking web browser pop-up informing them that their computer is infected and THEY MUST CLICK HERE NOW!!!!! (Hint: web browser != anti-virus )
Upscale temptation (Score:3)
Mac owners tend to occupy a higher-income demographic, increasing their attractiveness to criminals. Would you target someone with a $500 bank account or a $50,000 account?
This factor helps Linux, with its third world popularity, but complacency is always the Devil's playground.
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Which is why one of the selling points for Macs on Apple's website is that they're immune to "Windows viruses"
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"PC Viruses" actually.
Which makes little sense, since Macs used to run on PowerPC machines.
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As evidenced by their "I'm a Mac" commercials, Apple used the formula "PC = Windows based personal computer" even though Macs are /technically/ PCs as well.
Re:sigh (Score:4, Interesting)
How exactly is OSX more secure than Windows 7, assuming both are patched and not used by total morons that click Yes to everything?
Re:sigh (Score:4, Informative)
http://blog.laptopmag.com/mac-os-x-lion-vs-windows-7-which-is-better/9 [laptopmag.com]
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Enterprise-Applications/Apple-Mac-OS-X-Lion-Bests-Microsoft-Windows-7-10-Reasons-Why-647298/ [eweek.com] (slide 4)
http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/29/lions-upgraded-robust-security-features/ [nytimes.com]
I think you get the point... all of these I found on the first 2 pages by Googling "lion security vs windows 7".
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If you skip all the marketing fluff and read the technical claims, at best, those articles say that Lion has finally caught up with Windows security-wise - ASLR, browser sandboxing and file encryption have been there since, what, Vista?
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I don't know about your definition of secure...
They have less DISCOVERED flaws that's true. But it doesn't mean there aren't many which can be discovered and exploited.
And quite frankly their virus-response is crappy. It took ages for them to patch something that Oracle had patched a while ago. I think that's the main issue here - they needed a fire lit underneath them, and even then they worked sluggishly.
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The exploit was because of Java and you blame Apple? That's rich. OS X was not at fault. If Oracle got it's act together this would not have been a problem.
And the fanboi shows his colors. Apple was at fault. That java patch was fixed and a patch deployed for every other system well in advance of that news report. Oracle did have it's act together, and resolved the issue. Want to guess why OS X was the only system exploited? Here, I'll give you the answer. Apple maintains (controls) it's own implementation of Java, and is consistently behind the times. That lackadaisical approach (by Apple, not Oracle) is why this outbreak occurred. Apple's fault, NOT Oracle's