Post by Jolly RogerUh huh. People have been saying that Macs don't have as many viruses and
malware is because of the relatively small market share for many years.
Those same dolts have also been saying one day soon Macs will see a huge
increase in malware, since Mac OS X started becoming popular over ten
years ago. Now you're telling us it's the iPhone and iPad making the Mac
malware epidemic inevitable and soon to hit. I notice you don't mention
any specific technical aspects of what makes Windows so vulnerable, and
how those apply to OS X. I bet you don't even have a clue as to how OS X
differs from other operating systems that are so malware ridden (*ahem,
Windows). I think if you did bother to learn enough about the
differences between the two operating systems, along with the
differences in environments and market segments that use the two
operating systems, you likely wouldn't be voicing such horse shit. Keep
on propagating that silly "Mac users malware-free days are numbered"
line if you feel you must - just know you sound very silly to those of
us who know better. Meanwhile I won't be holding my breath.
Actually, both sides are right, sort of. Windows, in it's present
iteration,
is just about as immune to malware as Mac OS- the Win OS architecture
is much different these days and pretty much requires any malware to be
installed manually by the end-users themselves.
This, unfortunately, has caused malware writers to change tactics, and
use social engineering to trick users into installing malware themselves
thinking it's something else, since drive-by and macro-based attacks are
pretty much useless today with Win 7.
The most common malware attacks today are website popups (usually from
the types of websites most of us wouldn't admit to visiting even if we
did) proclaiming our "security software detected x# of viruses" with a
fairly realistic depiction of a typical anti-malware results screen.
That pop-up would explain our anti-virus software (never actually named
specifically, lest the user not recognize it) is out of date and then
instructs you to download and install the update (which, of course, is
the trojan/malware), and specifically explains (with helpful pictures!)
how to circumvent the various popups and warnings Windows will throw at
you desperately trying to get you NOT to install the untrusted, virus-
laden download. The more sophisticated versions are clever enough to not
actually be viruses (lest one's actual security software warn the user)
but instead change some user settings on the computer, like disabling the
File Explorer, Task Manager, and Program Installer (any of which would
help undo the attack) and directing all browsing to the bad guys'
websites that explain their $79 security software can fix these problems
and yes, they take Paypal. (My son got nailed by one of these last year
on his PC that was still running Vista and it was a real PITA to undo!)
These types of scams have been perpetrated on Mac users as well, (e.g.
the fake "Mac Defender" security software attacks last spring) but aren't
typically as effective since most Mac users probably aren't as easily
fooled (or perhaps just confused!) by security popups, unlike long time
Windows users that historically have probably seen their fair share of
security software warnings and popups.
Apparently a new one is going around for Macs the last few weeks that
masquerades as a Flash Player update that might be more believable (I
don't know about Mac OS, but it seems on the Windows side, Flash gets
updated almost weekly these days.)