It's About Liberty: A Conservative Forum
Topics => Science, Technology, & Medicine => Topic started by: ToddF on June 24, 2011, 06:26:57 AM
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It still goes on. No matter how careful you are, no matter how mainstream (OK, the Red Star, but you know what I mean ::laughonfloor::) the sites you visit, you can get nailed, if you don't.
International Cyber Probe Cracks Down on Scareware (http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/dpp/news/scitech/international-cyber-probe-cracks-down-on-scareware-jun-22-2011)
The two allegedly created a phony advertising agency and claimed they represented a hotel chain that wanted to buy online ad space on the Minneapolis Star Tribune's news website.
The FBI said that when the ad began running on the website, the defendants changed the computer code in the ad so that the computers of visitors to the Star Tribune website were infected with a software program that launched the scareware.
I haven't been bitten once since blocking ads.
Now, I just wonder how long I can last with my Ipad as it doesn't block. ::praying::
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Okay, am I being baited here?
I don't run any blocking/anti-virus software of any kind on any of my (now 5) Mac hardware products.
I've never had a problem.
I do see ads running all of the time for Mac maintenance products such as MacKeeper. A search for "MacKeeper" brings up numerous "reviews" supposedly done by independent orgs which speak glowingly of it. However, a quick visit to the MacForums site to search for posts on it reveals that it is a scam.
Anyone who feels the need for a Mac maintenance product can use the one that is recommended at MacForums, OnyX, which is available for no charge.
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Others to avoid for Mac users:
MacDefender
MacSecurity
MacProtector
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MacForums official thread on "viruses" (http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/switcher-hangout/209182-official-antivirus-malware-firewall-faq.html)
As for PC users, good luck out there.
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From what I've read Macs are easier to write nasties for than Windows PCs. The only reason there have been none, is that no one has macs, relatively speaking. The Ipad is changing that.
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Another reason not to have anything to do with the Red Star! I wrote them off a decade ago after getting into it with one of their editors.
And as far as virus threat goes, I think MNHawk is right, Apple is doing all it can to offer new products to hungry masses, it's just a matter of when not if they get swamped with malicious programs.
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The Mac operating system benefits from the legacy of its Unix (BSD) heritage, in that Unix has always been developed as a multi-user system for network environments and therefore enforced a rigid internal security model, compared to the then-burgeoning single user / single system home computer operating systems. However, it's also true that the principle of "security through obscurity" has benefit Macs for years, and that benefit is waning as they become a broader target. I don't know if it's still the case (probably not), but for a while Sun's Java virtual machine for OS X had continuous 'root' access which represents a potential avenue for intrusion. One hole like that gets closed and others are found. All it really takes is the desire, wherewithal, and opportunity. It's the eternal battle between arms and armor.