Apple Malware

[MikeMc]

just off the wire...........

Viruses and malware have almost always been an issue for Windows-based computer users, but not so much for Apple's Mac users -- at least in part because PC's outnumber Macs about 16-1.

"If you're making some kind of malware or virus ware, or Trojan or anything, you're going to concentrate on where the most potential victims are, and that's on the Windows side", says CNET.com's Dan Ackerman.

But last month, the web security firm Intego reported that Apple's increasingly popular computers were being targeted for the first time by malware programmers with something called "Mac Defender".

"It's not a virus", states Ackerman. "It's not a program. It just tricks you into installing a program that you don't want and then tries to get you to pay the company to remove the problem that it itself created."

Tricking Mac users out of money -- not destroying their computer -- was Mac Defender's aim.

And once word filtered out about it, the malware's creators even modified Mac Defender's look and name a few times to try to stay ahead of the game.

"Apple's really not used to dealing with this issues on a large scale. Unlike Windows computers, Apple computers don't have a big anti-virus program built in. And look out for the same suspicious things that every other computer user does", warns Ackerman.

At first, Apple only offered customers self-help suggestions for dealing with the problem.

But, after a torrent of online criticism and a huge spike in customer service calls, Apple finally went a step further late last week, releasing a security patch for its current operating system to target the malware.

"This is a wake up call that even if you're on a Mac, which has traditionally been a pretty safe platform for users, you still have to keep your guard up and look out for the same suspicious things that every other computer user does", says Ackerman.

For Mac users, it's an all-new game of cat and mouse.

[Lownslow]

theres really easy ways to crash macs but its like picking on the fat kid as they say

[MrObsessive]

I made the comment a while back on another thread that because one has a Mac, that doesn't make them immune from getting a virus. As the article mentioned, most hackers don't bother because there just aren't that many of them out there to make it worth their while.

Now that's all about to change..................especially as Apple is now more prolific than ever! Look for a number of "bugs" to hit Macs down the road I'm afraid.

[sak]

Do not think its because its a hacker doesnt think it is worth his/her time to make a virus for macs because there are not as many of them out there. Ratio of Pc to mac is 16 to 1 you say? Even is it was 50 to 1, there would still be tens of millions of macs worldwide. Macs are so much more expensive also, more common omong the upper middle class, so targeting them would be a tremendous opportunity to a hacker.