Symantec, which makes Norton antivirus software, has identified the first harmful computer program to strike specifically at Mac’s.
This Trojan horse program, dubbed the “iBotnet,” has infected only a few thousand Mac machines, but it represents a step in the evolution of malicious computer software attack Apple’s which have to date been thought to be immune from viruses.
The iBotnet is a sign that harmful programs are moving toward Mac, said Paul Henry, a forensics and security analyst at Lumension Security in Arizona.
This particular program infects only computers whose users downloaded pirated versions of the Mac software iWork.
“”Mac and people are talking about how Macs are immune to malware — and, sure enough, they’re not”, said Kevin Haley, a director of security response at Symantec.
News of the Apple botnet is significant in part because it’s something other authors of malicious code can build from.
“I don’t think it’s a tipping point; I think it’s an evolutionary step. We see virus authors often use what somebody else has done,” he said. “There’s a model. There’s something out there to follow.”
Apple said in a statement that it “takes security very seriously and has a great track record of addressing potential vulnerabilities before they can affect users.”
Of course no one should be downloading pirated software on any machine, but if Mac’s start getting targeted, users better take notice.
Finally, hope there will be more so Mac-sectists will finally have to shut up
I’ve always wondered whether Apple’s Mac was really so much more secure than Windows or whether it was just that there were not as many viruses written for Mac computers… The latter may be the case.
You download a program from a dodgy source and install it on your computer and it does something other than the author said it would.
Hardly a problem with Mac “security” considering you had to type in your password in order for the install to go through.
Hell, that could happen on your Commodore 64 as well.
So on the Mac you install “LittleSnitch” and the first time the program you mistakenly installed phones home, you get a warning regarding the contact with the unknown site, and can recognise the problem.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Anyone that thinks macs are safe from viruses (all together) clearly doesn’t get it.
The reason PCs get all the viruses is Market Share. Ask yourself, if you were going to spend the time and take the risk to make a virus, would you target PC or Mac? Alot more people have PCs, and since the majority of what people call “viruses” these days are profit motivated, wouldn’t you target where you would get the most profit?
Rest assured, as Mac gets more and more market share, the will get more and more viruses. Duh.
BTW, just thought I’d throw in, Macs break just as much as PCs do as well. For those if you that don’t know I also run a small business http://SanDiegoComputerRepair.com, where I get plenty of broken Macs in the shop. I like the broken Macs, more people agree to have them fixed rather than just buying a replacement. After all look how much money they spent on their Mac. It is a regular thing to have someone bring in a Mac that when the customer turns it on all it does is make a Mac “Sad Face” ad them, and next thing you know they’ve got to cross their fingers and write me a big check for Data Recovery. Macs like to go down without any warning. With PC at least your computer gives out some symptoms before a crash.
Personally I think that Apple is mocking its customers with those “Sad Faces”. The customers never find it funny though. So why does everyone think that Macs are so much better? IMHO I think its because Apple is a marketing machine. Apple could go on TV and convince everyone that a pile of poo is worth $2k and people would buy it. Kudos to their marketing group. I’m not saying Macs are bad computers, they just aren’t worth the $$$$ or the hype.
Ha ha ha, thats rich coming from them considering they’ve had problems acknowledging security holes in Safari in past which allowed a cracker to remotely take over the Mac running it and then they had troubles fixing those holes which often took them 2-3 attempts at patches to fix eventually!!
Agree with @jp saying that the only reason people (not fanboys) buy their stuff is because it looks good & because they’ve a great marketing team which can sell sand at gold’s price!!