Viruses

Alright, so I'm back to using OSX now after a long hiatus.

Have they come out with wild viruses that you can actually get infected with in OSX yet, or is there still no need for antivirus in OSX?

 

There have been several trojans introduced specifically for OS X and there have been infections. However, I'm not sure how they infect the system outside of you downloading them through obtaining illegal copies of OS X software.

 

Yeah, unless you download illegal OS X software from highly suspicious sources, the chances of you getting infected by anything is practically none.

 

What he said. In order to get one of these trojans, you have to manually allow it root access.

So if you get infected, it's because YOU did something stupid, it won't be a vulnerability in OSX.

 

I'll be clear on one thing here. OS X isn't perfect, it does have flaws. There have been documented attacks on the OS that didn't require user action, it is just that hackers don't have much interest in hitting OS X.

 

So basically it hasn't changed from a year ago then....

I suppose one of these days I'll buy Intego or something.

Thanks.

 

Isn't it the same thing for Windows too? If you're constantly pirating software and visiting naughty sites, you'll most certainly get a virus or have malware on your computer. However, if you just do some word processing, visit non-shady sites, blog, you'll be fine.

 

That's not necessarily true though. A lot of legitimate sites farm out their banners to third-party advertising companies that aggregate ads from a whole range of vendors, and not all of those ads are "safe". Generally, if you run Firefox w/ AdBlocker and NoScript, you're fine though.

 

You forgot to include not connecting to dodgy wireless networks, connecting up infected pen drives or other storage media, accepting dodgy cookies from websites, running p2p file sharing software, not installing security patches etc.

It is true that this is the same for any Operating System, but the chances of a *nix OS getting infected is significantly less than Windows, simply because most people and organisations use Windows as their primary OS.

 

besides the fanboys' arguement ...

you should consider using malware protection, especially if you deal with customers / colleagues that uses windows. you might be receiving and passing along infected items without knowing it, and that is not good for business / working relationship.

think of this as professional courtesy consideration ...

 

I believe all operating systems are pretty much the same. The reason Windows is known for viruses is obviously because a lot of people use it. So chances of computers being infected by a virus is much higher. I personally never felt insecure on any of my systems using Windows or OS X. I don't have an Anti-virus on both of them. I believe their firewall is more than enough protection as long as you know what sites you visit, files you download, and pretty much know what you're doing.

 

Does downloading softwares in torrent files (isohunt, mininova, etc..) like office or iwork or what ever represents a risk of getting a virus?
And what about songs and movies?
A friend of mine is downloading tons of movies and says its safe...

 

I definitely wouldn't download the iWork or Office torrents, because they have a 99.9% chance of having a trojan in them. It really depends where all of it comes from. Any place on the internet could have a virus, but some sites like torrent and P2P sites have a higher chance of having a virus. For the movies and music, it depends where you download them at. If you download music and music from iTunes, then you shouldn't have a problem at all. If you go to some sites such as Mininova or Thepiratebay, then I would be really careful, and watch what I download. Hope that helps!

 

when downloading torrents,make sure to check the comments.

 

i cant seem to get that logic...

its like saying
'if you dont do anything on your mac you wont become infected'

simple answer. yes there are malware on the mac.
be vigilant and dont think mac are immune and you should be safe.