[PCWorld]

Post your comments for Mac Trojan Infections Exceed Half Million, Expert Says here

[BobEmery]

This isn't an OS X issue. It's a Java issue. The fix has been around for months. Apple, you have some explaining to do.

[HarrietCannella]

Ok, I received two Mac updates in the last two days and a captacha thing where I was suppose to put in a word. I did not put in the word. Does this mean I have the virus? I'm so confused and if I do have it, how do I get rid of it!!!!!!!

[amigakid]

LOL I always said Mac may not have many viruses, but with all the misconcenption that "Macs cant get viruses" that was pushed falsely by Apple, they have made it so there are a lot of Macs vulnerable to viruses and worse most Mac users have no Idea how to spot signs of one or worse how to get rid of them. Not bashing Mac users, but Apple I feel has mislead millions with thier I'm a Mac I'm a PC comercial about computer viruses, Good Job Apple way to make the majority of your users ignorant to actual facts in the cyber world

[patterntangle]

it's an anti virus company pushing their wares.

[CBr0e0]

my imac, 2 macbooks pro, and 1 macbook air are not infected, any of them i think is a publicity stunt from an antivirus developer

[EnsignN7]

HarrietCannella, on 07 April 2012 - 02:59 PM, said:

Ok, I received two Mac updates in the last two days and a captacha thing where I was suppose to put in a word. I did not put in the word. Does this mean I have the virus? I'm so confused and if I do have it, how do I get rid of it!!!!!!!

Please follow the instructions below. Please restart your computer in safe boot and perform Software Update via the Apple Menu afterwards:
http://www.f-secure....ashback_i.shtml

amigakid, on 07 April 2012 - 03:13 PM, said:

LOL I always said Mac may not have many viruses, but with all the misconcenption that "Macs cant get viruses" that was pushed falsely by Apple, they have made it so there are a lot of Macs vulnerable to viruses and worse most Mac users have no Idea how to spot signs of one or worse how to get rid of them. Not bashing Mac users, but Apple I feel has mislead millions with thier I'm a Mac I'm a PC comercial about computer viruses, Good Job Apple way to make the majority of your users ignorant to actual facts in the cyber world

Apple never stated "Macs do not get viruses". Their advertisement campaign was "Macs do not get Windows viruses" which is a true statement. The former statement has come from the mindset that Mac users have developed when buying Apple's products (whether it be from smugness or not knowing how computer security works).

This post has been edited by EnsignN7: 07 April 2012 - 04:21 PM

[ZipFolder]

I think the users of any computer should be careful on downloading things.

[amigakid]

Sure they never specifically said we cannot get viruses, but if you watch the ad it is very mis leading into making people believe they can't. PC states "he has that virus thats going around and Mac better stay back, Macs reply is Im a Mac, i'll be fine", and most people will reference PCs get Viruses and Macs don't, plain and simple regardless of how closely you want to examine the wording, fact is a majority of people take that from the ad. I have talked to a number of people that consider buying a mac, and almost 100% of the time they will say one reason is because Macs cant get viruses. I have heard salesman state that also. I am an engineer and I have both PC's and Macs and the overall thing about those ads are they are very misleading and as such provide "false" information making people believe that they can't get one. Argue about it all you want, but in the end the final message that is viewed by most is the same. Mac PC whatever, they are both prone to viruses and malware period. And another side not that most "viruses" are actually Malware (roughly 97% of them). Viruses are created to do damage to a computer OS or Hardware, where as Malware is made to be malicious in context and for keylogging, trach tracing and gathering personal information as well as opening, hiding virtual ports.

EnsignN7, on 07 April 2012 - 04:16 PM, said:

HarrietCannella, on 07 April 2012 - 02:59 PM, said:

Ok, I received two Mac updates in the last two days and a captacha thing where I was suppose to put in a word. I did not put in the word. Does this mean I have the virus? I'm so confused and if I do have it, how do I get rid of it!!!!!!!

Please follow the instructions below. Please restart your computer in safe boot and perform Software Update via the Apple Menu afterwards:
http://www.f-secure....ashback_i.shtml

amigakid, on 07 April 2012 - 03:13 PM, said:

LOL I always said Mac may not have many viruses, but with all the misconcenption that "Macs cant get viruses" that was pushed falsely by Apple, they have made it so there are a lot of Macs vulnerable to viruses and worse most Mac users have no Idea how to spot signs of one or worse how to get rid of them. Not bashing Mac users, but Apple I feel has mislead millions with thier I'm a Mac I'm a PC comercial about computer viruses, Good Job Apple way to make the majority of your users ignorant to actual facts in the cyber world

Apple never stated "Macs do not get viruses". Their advertisement campaign was "Macs do not get Windows viruses" which is a true statement. The former statement has come from the mindset that Mac users have developed when buying Apple's products (whether it be from smugness or not knowing how computer security works).

[jerryball]

ZipFolder, on 07 April 2012 - 04:30 PM, said:

I think the users of any computer should be careful on downloading things.

This piece of malware just needs one to go onto a website and loads itself. No download of anything is required. Sneaky this one.

[amigakid]

Its very sneaky indeed. The thing is that the more Macs that are out there, the bigger target they are and more worthwhile for the Hacker. Before when there weren't very many viruses/malware was because the numbers really weren't high enough for most serious hackers to bother with, but with the upgrade in popularity of Apple products of course most can expect a higher amount of this coming out. Hopefully Apple users in general will begin to realise this and start to learn a little more about how to better protect themselves (although like you said this one really requires very minimal user interaction and is a lot harder to avoid).

jerryball, on 07 April 2012 - 04:44 PM, said:

ZipFolder, on 07 April 2012 - 04:30 PM, said:

I think the users of any computer should be careful on downloading things.

This piece of malware just needs one to go onto a website and loads itself. No download of anything is required. Sneaky this one.

[EnsignN7]

amigakid, on 07 April 2012 - 04:38 PM, said:

Sure they never specifically said we cannot get viruses, but if you watch the ad it is very mis leading into making people believe they can't. PC states "he has that virus thats going around and Mac better stay back, Macs reply is Im a Mac, i'll be fine", and most people will reference PCs get Viruses and Macs don't, plain and simple regardless of how closely you want to examine the wording, fact is a majority of people take that from the ad. I have talked to a number of people that consider buying a mac, and almost 100% of the time they will say one reason is because Macs cant get viruses. I have heard salesman state that also. I am an engineer and I have both PC's and Macs and the overall thing about those ads are they are very misleading and as such provide "false" information making people believe that they can't get one. Argue about it all you want, but in the end the final message that is viewed by most is the same. Mac PC whatever, they are both prone to viruses and malware period. And another side not that most "viruses" are actually Malware (roughly 97% of them). Viruses are created to do damage to a computer OS or Hardware, where as Malware is made to be malicious in context and for keylogging, trach tracing and gathering personal information as well as opening, hiding virtual ports.

Yes I know a virus is a type of malware (which is the general term for software designed to harm the end user). A virus can do a multitude of things and spreads by appending code to a genuine program that a user unknowingly runs (this is different than a trojan horse in that a trojan horse masquerades itself as a genuine program where as a virus victimizes an actual genuine file). To those who work with computer and networking security like me, we aim to understand the purpose of malware (as they are rarely created to simply cause damage for the attacker's amusement). Either way, you still cannot hold Apple responsible for how their ads are interpreted as they did not specifically state "Macs cannot get viruses". Go look on their website and you will see it in text it states "It doesn't get PC viruses". For users gaining the misinformed idea from others or from salespeople, that's not Apple's fault unless it happens inside an Apple store (which more than likely will never happen since Apple is good at training their people to be politically correct when it comes to what they say). Assuming that is what Apple intended to do is a fallacious argument since you cannot prove that was their true intent. Every competent computer user will know that malware only needs superuser rights to your computer and bam you are screwed. Does not matter what platform it is on. If you want to blame other salespeople at Best Buy for misleading others, that's Best Buy's fault, not Apple's (and likewise for every other store that isn't an Apple store).

If you want to go on a rant about Apple on an actual argument then you should be attacking their timing of releasing software patches. Oracle released the patch to this particular vulnerability in their runtime a long time ago and because Apple controls when updates go out via their Software Update scheme, this patch was delayed for several weeks where as Windows and Linux users got the patch almost instantly. Had they pushed the patch out the same, none of this would have happened and the crises averted.

Here is the link Apple has plastered all over their website for consumers if you want to see the message yourself
http://www.apple.com/why-mac/

This post has been edited by EnsignN7: 07 April 2012 - 06:00 PM

[MichaelRousseau]

EnsignN7, on 07 April 2012 - 05:53 PM, said:

amigakid, on 07 April 2012 - 04:38 PM, said:

Sure they never specifically said we cannot get viruses, but if you watch the ad it is very mis leading into making people believe they can't. PC states "he has that virus thats going around and Mac better stay back, Macs reply is Im a Mac, i'll be fine", and most people will reference PCs get Viruses and Macs don't, plain and simple regardless of how closely you want to examine the wording, fact is a majority of people take that from the ad. I have talked to a number of people that consider buying a mac, and almost 100% of the time they will say one reason is because Macs cant get viruses. I have heard salesman state that also. I am an engineer and I have both PC's and Macs and the overall thing about those ads are they are very misleading and as such provide "false" information making people believe that they can't get one. Argue about it all you want, but in the end the final message that is viewed by most is the same. Mac PC whatever, they are both prone to viruses and malware period. And another side not that most "viruses" are actually Malware (roughly 97% of them). Viruses are created to do damage to a computer OS or Hardware, where as Malware is made to be malicious in context and for keylogging, trach tracing and gathering personal information as well as opening, hiding virtual ports.

Yes I know a virus is a type of malware (which is the general term for software designed to harm the end user). A virus can do a multitude of things and spreads by appending code to a genuine program that a user unknowingly runs (this is different than a trojan horse in that a trojan horse masquerades itself as a genuine program where as a virus victimizes an actual genuine file). To those who work with computer and networking security like me, we aim to understand the purpose of malware (as they are rarely created to simply cause damage for the attacker's amusement). Either way, you still cannot hold Apple responsible for how their ads are interpreted as they did not specifically state "Macs cannot get viruses". Go look on their website and you will see it in text it states "It doesn't get PC viruses". For users gaining the misinformed idea from others or from salespeople, that's not Apple's fault unless it happens inside an Apple store (which more than likely will never happen since Apple is good at training their people to be politically correct when it comes to what they say). Assuming that is what Apple intended to do is a fallacious argument since you cannot prove that was their true intent. Every competent computer user will know that malware only needs superuser rights to your computer and bam you are screwed. Does not matter what platform it is on. If you want to blame other salespeople at Best Buy for misleading others, that's Best Buy's fault, not Apple's (and likewise for every other store that isn't an Apple store).

If you want to go on a rant about Apple on an actual argument then you should be attacking their timing of releasing software patches. Oracle released the patch to this particular vulnerability in their runtime a long time ago and because Apple controls when updates go out via their Software Update scheme, this patch was delayed for several weeks where as Windows and Linux users got the patch almost instantly. Had they pushed the patch out the same, none of this would have happened and the crises averted.

Here is the link Apple has plastered all over their website for consumers if you want to see the message yourself
http://www.apple.com/why-mac/

"It doesn't get PC viruses". -- Macs are PCs. Personal computer. Only apple wants you to believe that all PCs are windows. PC ultimately has nothing to do with OS.

[MicroBuntu]

BobEmery, on 07 April 2012 - 01:47 PM, said:

This isn't an OS X issue. It's a Java issue. The fix has been around for months. Apple, you have some explaining to do.

Actually it is an OS X issue as afaik this particular exploit only affects computers running OSx and Apple maintains its own version of the Java libraries for OSx.

[YellowEagle]

EnsignN7, on 07 April 2012 - 04:16 PM, said:

HarrietCannella, on 07 April 2012 - 02:59 PM, said:

Ok, I received two Mac updates in the last two days and a captacha thing where I was suppose to put in a word. I did not put in the word. Does this mean I have the virus? I'm so confused and if I do have it, how do I get rid of it!!!!!!!

Please follow the instructions below. Please restart your computer in safe boot and perform Software Update via the Apple Menu afterwards:
http://www.f-secure....ashback_i.shtml

amigakid, on 07 April 2012 - 03:13 PM, said:

LOL I always said Mac may not have many viruses, but with all the misconcenption that "Macs cant get viruses" that was pushed falsely by Apple, they have made it so there are a lot of Macs vulnerable to viruses and worse most Mac users have no Idea how to spot signs of one or worse how to get rid of them. Not bashing Mac users, but Apple I feel has mislead millions with thier I'm a Mac I'm a PC comercial about computer viruses, Good Job Apple way to make the majority of your users ignorant to actual facts in the cyber world

Apple never stated "Macs do not get viruses". Their advertisement campaign was "Macs do not get Windows viruses" which is a true statement. The former statement has come from the mindset that Mac users have developed when buying Apple's products (whether it be from smugness or not knowing how computer security works).

Actually their is Malware that can attack both systems by design. This was in a article or two last year. Malware Writers are broadening their scope on the different operating systems and how to infect them. This was always just a matter of time. It's all about theft and or damaging a system. Apple from what i had read had patched for this or updated as they called it. But catching new Scum-ware is always a problem. What they need to do is catch the Criminals that are producing this Scum-ware and put them away.

And no matter if your and Apple user or Microsoft user or even Linux user, you should always be aware of the possibility of and infection and have tools to help catch and remove it. No Operating System is totally immune. Anyone that uses the Net should Educate themselves on Security and the threats they face using the Net. That's just basic Net 101. Should be taught in schools in computer Class's to but isn't.

This post has been edited by YellowEagle: 08 April 2012 - 03:36 PM

[deepsand]

patterntangle, on 07 April 2012 - 03:43 PM, said:

it's an anti virus company pushing their wares.

Are you from Never-Never Land?

[artzy65]

HarrietCannella, on 07 April 2012 - 02:59 PM, said:

Ok, I received two Mac updates in the last two days and a captacha thing where I was suppose to put in a word. I did not put in the word. Does this mean I have the virus? I'm so confused and if I do have it, how do I get rid of it!!!!!!!

That captcha sounds suspicious.. never saw that on Apple's site before. Never get Java Security Updates other than directly from Apple's site. Click on the Apple logo and select Software Updates. OS X will scan your system and give you the option of downloading updates to Java Security Update, iTunes, iPhoto, Safari, etc. You should always update your software to the latest versions. There are security flaws in other software besides the OS itself.

In any case, you can disable Java in Safari.. I did that years ago.

Also, make sure your OS X firewall is enabled, otherwise you will be wide open to backdoor exploits via security holes in Safari, etc. Dump Safari and switch to Firefox or Chrome, which have formidable security add-ons available, like NoScript, BetterPrivacy, and DoNotTrack Plus. Safari sucks when it comes to add-ons.

Install a third-party anti-malware package. I use Intego VirusBarrier X6. I also use Little Snitch, MacScan, PrivacyScan, etc

You need to do your own research, be proactive. The baddies are constantly working at newer and more malicious exploits. No OS will ever be completely safe. But the more formidable your installed countermeasures, the less vulnerable your Mac will be.

This post has been edited by artzy65: 08 April 2012 - 04:45 PM

[deepsand]

CBr0e0, on 07 April 2012 - 04:12 PM, said:

my imac, 2 macbooks pro, and 1 macbook air are not infected, any of them i think is a publicity stunt from an antivirus developer

Wake up and smell the coffee.

Setting aside the fact that you seemingly do not know that the threat in question is not one which targets all Mac products, and that we've only your word for it that none of yours are infected, the fact that not all Macs are infected does not prove that none are.

[deepsand]

jerryball, on 07 April 2012 - 04:44 PM, said:

This piece of malware just needs one to go onto a website and loads itself. No download of anything is required.

Hm-mm; auto-loading itself is still a download.

[artzy65]

EnsignN7, on 07 April 2012 - 05:53 PM, said:

"... you still cannot hold Apple responsible for how their ads are interpreted as they did not specifically state "Macs cannot get viruses". Go look on their website and you will see it in text it states "It doesn't get PC viruses". For users gaining the misinformed idea from others or from salespeople, that's not Apple's fault unless it happens inside an Apple store (which more than likely will never happen since Apple is good at training their people to be politically correct when it comes to what they say). Assuming that is what Apple intended to do is a fallacious argument since you cannot prove that was their true intent. Every competent computer user will know that malware only needs superuser rights to your computer and bam you are screwed. Does not matter what platform it is on. If you want to blame other salespeople at Best Buy for misleading others, that's Best Buy's fault, not Apple's (and likewise for every other store that isn't an Apple store).

The Apple virus ad uses humour and verbal sleight-of-hand to get non-techies to come the conclusion that Macs don't get viruses at all; and at the same time cleverly cover their butts legally LOL

This post has been edited by artzy65: 08 April 2012 - 05:30 PM