Re: Survey: OS X vulnerabilities to malware

From	billy@MIX.COM
Newsgroups	comp.sys.mac.system
Subject	Re: Survey: OS X vulnerabilities to malware
Date	2014-03-02 16:38 +0000
Organization	PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC
Message-ID	<levmpl$6k6$1@reader2.panix.com> (permalink)
References	<X-ydne8UTJ5NIJLOnZ2dnUVZ_qadnZ2d@giganews.com>

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Alan Browne <alan.browne@freelunchvideotron.ca> writes:

> Without getting into knicker twisting, please weight each statement.

I'll just offer a few thoughts...

> - it is very hard to infect any given OS X machine with malware

That depends on who is doing it.  As should be obvious now,
anyone who wants to slog through the open sources probably
would not have much trouble.  For example.

> - OS X is less likely to propagate a bug over a network, even if the 
> network is mainly OS X clients

Less likely than what - Windows?  Perhaps.

> - It's easier to remove viruses from OS X machines.

The filesystem is easier to grasp, but there are a massive amount
of plist and xml files, and much of their contents are essentially
undocumented.  Not to mention many of these are buried deep inside
various packages.  So, if the above is true, it is not by much.

> - It's harder to get a rootkit onto an OS X machine

Maybe with more recent OS versions.

> - OS X users operate mainly from non-admin accounts - so less vulnerable 
> to a serious virus

I think Windows users have the same option...?

> - the user is the weakest line of defense against malware

Looking at crappy web sites seems to be the biggest source of trouble.
The Web of trust add-on seems to be pretty good, although I've only had
it running a few weeks now.

> - OS X is not targeted because there are far more Windows machines

And there are more Windows exploits from which to build new ones.

> - Eventually, OS X machines will require A/V software to the same degree 
> as Windows does

Maybe...

> - Apple's existing XProtect is all that is needed to be safe

Apple seem to be somewhat slow in keeping up with new exploits.

> - _________________ is a good malware program for OS X (or NONE).

Sophos.

> Your own statements wrt OS X malware vulnerability:

The Flashback (I think it was called) problem was a bit of a surprise.

Everything is vulnerable, though, it just depends on how much effort
someone puts into cracking it.

Billy Y..
-- 
        sub     #'9+1   ,r0             ; convert ascii byte
	add     #9.+1   ,r0             ; to an integer
	bcc     20$                     ; not a number

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Thread

Survey: OS X vulnerabilities to malware Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> - 2014-02-27 17:36 -0500
  Re: Survey: OS X vulnerabilities to malware Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> - 2014-02-27 23:37 +0000
    Re: Survey: OS X vulnerabilities to malware Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> - 2014-02-27 18:39 -0500
      Re: Survey: OS X vulnerabilities to malware Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> - 2014-02-27 23:54 +0000
        Re: Survey: OS X vulnerabilities to malware Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> - 2014-02-27 19:51 -0500
  Re: Survey: OS X vulnerabilities to malware Doug Anderson <ethelthelogremovethis@gmail.com> - 2014-02-28 07:31 -0800
    Re: Survey: OS X vulnerabilities to malware Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> - 2014-02-28 16:44 -0500
  Re: Survey: OS X vulnerabilities to malware me@home.spamsucks.ca (Király) - 2014-02-28 16:32 +0000
    Re: Survey: OS X vulnerabilities to malware Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> - 2014-02-28 16:45 -0500
  Re: Survey: OS X vulnerabilities to malware billy@MIX.COM - 2014-03-02 16:38 +0000

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