On 22/03/2023 09:58, David Brooks wrote:
There's a myth that Macs don't get viruses - but it's just that: a myth.
AVG Antivirus for Mac works in realtime to detect and remove Mac-
specific malware. We'll also keep you safe from online threats, like malicious websites, emails, and downloads.
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The above statement is a bold claim, made here:- https://ibb.co/MZpBy63
The claim is supported by Trend Micro. Screenshot - https://ibb.co/Zm7DnRY
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Does anyone reading here know the REAL truth of the matter?
I wonder!
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From: Jolly Roger <
[email protected]>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.system
Subject: Re: Myth or fact? What is YOUR opinion?
Date: 22 Mar 2023 22:40:41 GMT
Organization: People for the Ethical Treatment of Pirates
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On 2023-03-22, gtr <
[email protected]> wrote:
On Mar 22, 2023 at 3:00:19 AM PDT, "David Brooks"
<
[email protected]>
wrote:
There's a myth that Macs don't get viruses - but it's just that: a
myth.
I think you mean an "extreme rarity". The myth is, as stated by most Windows-centric loyalists, that Macs get viruses. They don't.
They also don't often know the difference between an actual virus and
malware which can be in the form of trojans, and are most often adware.
AVG Antivirus for Mac works in realtime to detect and remove Mac-
specific malware. We'll also keep you safe from online threats, like
malicious websites, emails, and downloads.
Malware isn't usually considered a virus.
Actually, viruses are a _type_ of malware.
A computer *virus* is a type of malicious software that, when executed, replicates itself by modifying other computer programs and inserting its
own code. The only OS X viruses in existence are proof-of-concepts
written by security researchers to prove that it could be done. Only one
so far in all of these years, named Oompa-Loompa (also called OSX/Oomp-A
or Leap.A), actually fits the true definition of a virus - and even
then, very loosely, because it was never actually able to spread in the
wild over the internet. It was limited to local networks (like your home network) and couldn't spread over the internet. And it required the
receiving computer's user to interactively click a link in iChat to
download it to their computer, interactively open the downloaded file,
and interactively supply administrator credentials to install it for it
to be successful. For these reasons, it never was able to spread far,
even on the few occasions it was found in the wild.
The vast majority of macOS malware in the wild today are in the form of *trojans*: apps that pretend to be legitimate apps - typically pirated
copies of commercial apps, or third-party apps downloaded from unsavory
paces like CNET Downloads, VersionTracker, or MacUpdate with installers
that have been stealthily modified by those download services to bundle
malware with them.
And the majority of such macOS trojan malware is *adware* that modifies
the behavior of web browsers to spy on your browsing behavior and inject
ads into pages displayed by the web browser.
And *all* of them require the user to be tricked into *interactively* downloading and installing them, as well as *interactively* entering administrator credentials when prompted, to successfully infect a target
Mac. In other words, they all rely on simple *social engineering* to work.
--
E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my ravenous SPAM filter.
I often ignore posts from Google. Use a real news client instead.
JR
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