This screen note is confusing:

[Gina Stevenson]

This popped up on my screen when clicking on a link to see a neat musical/pictorial page re today (eagle, etc, with lyrics to all the verses). What on earth!? A fluke, or is there some connection between apple/mac software on the Blackberry Playbook, tho' not spoken of? Cannot find anything but re how to connect the two for data sharing, so ... ?? Thot it was Android, not Mac:

3906

[Bruce Nuffer]

You are right Gina, which is the giveaway that this is spam. The other giveaway is that this popped up when you clicked another link. The spammer is making an educated guess that the person who clicked this link was using an Apple device, thus worrying them even more than you. You have nothing to worry about.

[David Stevens]

I agree with Bruce. The poor english always gives them away.

[Zach Wingo]

It's actually could be and often is more than spam. It is usually an attempt to force you to click something and thus execute code. They write the script to detect what operating system you're using so they can display the appropriate message. Even if you're on a Mac you should be running some kind of anti-virus and scan regularly.

[Gina Stevenson]

It's actually could be and often is more than spam. It is usually an attempt to force you to click something and thus execute code. They write the script to detect what operating system you're using so they can display the appropriate message. Even if you're on a Mac you should be running some kind of anti-virus and scan regularly.

Tablet (Blackberry/60% off, that's why), nothing that is .exe can be opened on here, so just have to "trust them" to have the anti-virus, it seems). ANYWAY, when this came up we did not do anything other than close the window/tab that popped up in!

Thanks, y'all. But one question still in mind ... what do we do to check things out re viruses on something like this???

[Rich Schmidt]

Even if you're on a Mac you should be running some kind of anti-virus and scan regularly.

Why? I've been using Macs almost daily for 6 years now, and I've never installed antivirus software on either of the two machines.

Of course, I also don't click on pop-up scam/scare ads like the one Gina encountered. I don't install sketchy software. Etc.

And now, with the Gatekeeper (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gatekeeper_(OS_X)) feature of OS X 10.8, it should be even easier for Mac users to avoid malware. No extra security software required. :)

[Zach Wingo]

Why?

The same reasons that Windows users should. I ran my Windows XP machine for 7 years without anti-virus software and never had a virus so should Windows users not run anti-virus?

The idea that Macs don't get viruses, and especially the idea they can't is a complete joke to everyone in the computer security industry. Gatekeeper is a great feature but in now way is a replacement for anti-virus. It only protects users from accidentally executing malware by restricting software from certain sources. It does absolutely nothing from preventing people from taking advantage of software exploits or spoofing the source.

Take a look at this recent cross platform attack affecting Macs:

http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/archives/00002397.html

Yes, it asks for you to continue and most people will. You think you wouldn't click that? What if this came from Naznet after being compromised? What if it was your bank? These attacks usually don't come from strange sites, often times they come from trusted sites that have been compromised so even if you look closely it will show you that site you trust is the one asking.

Better yet, think your iPhone is secure? What if i told you it was quite trivial to get all your SMS logs, call logs, & phonebooks and (as long as the user was using the default out of the box email client) emails stored within simply by scanning a QR code with no further user interaction? Yep, it's possible and has been done :)

BTW, if you don't have anti-virus what makes you think you don't have one? Rootkits, key loggers, and backdoors will go completely unnoticed by almost everyone; they do their work quietly in the background and you would never know they're there.

[Rich Schmidt]

The same reasons that Windows users should. I ran my Windows XP machine for 7 years without anti-virus software and never had a virus so should Windows users not run anti-virus?

Ok, I'll concede: perhaps general users should use antivirus on Macs. Perhaps all of us should. I'm still not going to bother. Like you, I'm a bit more computer-savvy than the general computer-using public.


The idea that Macs don't get viruses, and especially the idea they can't is a complete joke to everyone in the computer security industry.

Yes, I know that Macs can (and do) get infected. But it's still a fairly rare occurrence.


Gatekeeper is a great feature but in now way is a replacement for anti-virus. It only protects users from accidentally executing malware by restricting software from certain sources. It does absolutely nothing from preventing people from taking advantage of software exploits or spoofing the source.

Yes, I know what Gatekeeper does. For the average computer user, I have to think it will prevent a huge chunk of inadvertent malware installs.


Take a look at this recent cross platform attack affecting Macs:

http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/archives/00002397.html

Yes, it asks for you to continue and most people will. You think you wouldn't click that? What if this came from Naznet after being compromised? What if it was your bank? These attacks usually don't come from strange sites, often times they come from trusted sites that have been compromised so even if you look closely it will show you that site you trust is the one asking.

I can't speak for others, but I personally wouldn't click that. Especially if it came from Naznet or my banks, since I know that none of those sites require that sort of thing.


Better yet, think your iPhone is secure? What if i told you it was quite trivial to get all your SMS logs, call logs, & phonebooks and (as long as the user was using the default out of the box email client) emails stored within simply by scanning a QR code with no further user interaction? Yep, it's possible and has been done :)

From what I could find online, that vulnerability was patched... And iPhone users are (on the whole) fairly good at keeping their OS updated.


BTW, if you don't have anti-virus what makes you think you don't have one? Rootkits, key loggers, and backdoors will go completely unnoticed by almost everyone; they do their work quietly in the background and you would never know they're there.

Good point. My machines might be infected. But I've seen no evidence, and from time to time, when I read about something big (MacDefender, Flashback), I check manually (without installing antivirus software), and so far my machines have been clean every time.

While there's nothing wrong with Mac users installing antivirus software If they want to (especially for free), I personally don't think most need to bother. I'd rather err on this side than the other, I guess. I've known some people who go overboard with their computer maintenance/precautions. I'll be seeing a guy tomorrow who thinks he needs to clear his cache multiple times, then defrag his hard drive multiple times, then go through several other steps every time he turns off his computer... which he does whenever he's not using it. He even unplugs it. It's completely crazy.

If my parents buy a Mac, they'll want antivirus, and I'll point them toward a free option. For now, they've replaced their old Windows laptop with a new iPad. So I'm not too worried. :)