Apple Snubs Security Firm That Spotted Mac Botnet

[YosemiteSam]

Education is paramount and Apple is getting an education on how to *NOT* run a *big* software company.

Being snob and snooty will burn your booty! I'm a poet!

==========================================

Now that it's being increasingly targeted by botnet herders, Apple has a thing or two to learn about cooperating with friendly security researchers. Boris Sharov, the CEO of Dr. Web, the Russian security company that first reported more than half a million Macs were infected with Flashback malware last week, says when his company alerted Apple to the botnet, it never responded to him. Worse yet, on Monday Apple asked a Russian registrar to take down a domain it said was being used to host a command and control server for Flashback, but in fact was a 'sinkhole' that Dr. Web had set up to observe and analyze the botnet. Sharov describes the lack of communication and cooperation as a symptom of a company that has never before had to work closely with the security industry. 'For Microsoft, we have all the security response team's addresses,' he says. 'We don't know the antivirus group inside Apple.

 

[Reality]

'For Microsoft, we have all the security response team's addresses,' he says. 'We don't know the antivirus group inside Apple.'

Explains it all right there ..

#reality

 

[Kangaroo]

Explains it all right there ..

#reality

Apple always preached about being more secure in their OS commercial the issue was that hackers did not care because the foot print was to small and not worth their time as a hacker now with all the Ipads and Iphones out they are a target because now they have a large foot print which makes it a walking target

 

[YosemiteSam]

Apple always preached about being more secure in their OS commercial the issue was that hackers did not care because the foot print was to small and not worth their time as a hacker now with all the Ipads and Iphones out they are a target because now they have a large foot print which makes it a walking target

Are you saying instead of Microsoft's "Security by Obscurity", Apple's is "Security by Needle in a Haystack"? :laugh2:

 

[Trendnet]

Apple always preached about being more secure in their OS commercial the issue was that hackers did not care because the foot print was to small and not worth their time as a hacker now with all the Ipads and Iphones out they are a target because now they have a large foot print which makes it a walking target

It's not surprising that hackers would eventually start targeting Apple devices considering its users being, usually middle to upper class people with disposable income. Usually.

 

[Reality]

Windows has always been flawed for internet security primarily because of its foundation design from the early days of networking. Microsoft openly admitted they did not embrace the internet quick enough and has just in the last few years started to finally catch up to their competitors.

The problem with Windows' security goes back to their original vision for networking. They built windows networking on the basis that workstations would be linked to dedicated servers and those servers would function as gateways to the internet or intranets. Because of this, they made workstations less secure especially when it came to the earlier versions Internet Explorer. They finally realized they needed to build a version of Windows (Windows 7) with the internet in mind from the start and that has helped them correct a lot of the weak points in previous Windows releases.

In addition to the popularity of Windows, another big reason hackers have focused heavily on Windows is because most viruses are simply modified or expanded versions of previous viruses. As such, a lot of virus creators already have a proven starting point when creating their own viruses.

Quite honestly though, Windows suffers from the weakest link syndrome. Windows users as a whole tend to be less technically inclined because of the low cost of purchase. You can purchase $200-$300 laptops at Walmart and other discount stores making it real easy for anyone, regardless of skill level, to get online without much effort. While this is a blessing to most people, it also creates a lot of problems even for savvy users due to viruses using email and the web to share infected content.

Where Microsoft has been forced to lessen security due to complaints from users about extra clicks, annoying alerts, etc. most Apple users tend to be accepting of whatever the operating system asks them to do. Linux users tend to be tech savvy so they are more likely to notice and scrutinize anything out of the ordinary.

For the record, I use Windows and Linux systems every day as well as my iPad. I have owned Mac's in the past and I plan to buy another one when the next hardware updates come out in a few months. I think they all have their place and serve their purpose.

#reality

 

[Reality]

One thing I think most people are missing about this big Mac's-have-a-virus story is that the virus exploited a weakness in Java, not the operating system itself. It would be no different than if a virus exploited a weakness in Java for Windows. The only reason it is big news is because it gives the media and of course Apple-envious/hater people a chance to finally say, "See!"

#reality

 

[YosemiteSam]

One thing I think most people are missing about this big Mac's-have-a-virus story is that the virus exploited a weakness in Java, not the operating system itself. It would be no different than if a virus exploited a weakness in Java for Windows. The only reason it is big news is because it gives the media and of course Apple-envious/hater people a chance to finally say, "See!"

#reality

Actually, most virus initially exploit software (or users) to get in rather than the OS itself.

Macs were never *not* vulnerable. As note, they just weren't worth the attackers time. Viruses for Macs have existed for years. They just weren't worth the time it took to get them to spread.

I liken it to a start up company. If you want to be big and make lots of money, you have to be popular so that people buy/use you product / services. Macs weren't popular so there was no money to be made by exploiting them.

History of Macintosh Viruses

 

[Reality]

Actually, most virus initially exploit software (or users) to get in rather than the OS itself.

Macs were never *not* vulnerable. As note, they just weren't worth the attackers time. Viruses for Macs have existed for years. They just weren't worth the time it took to get them to spread.

I liken it to a start up company. If you want to be big and make lots of money, you have to be popular so that people buy/use you product / services. Macs weren't popular so there was no money to be made by exploiting them.

History of Macintosh Viruses

If you had read my previous post you would realize that I said the same thing. Every device is vulnerable to hacking to some degree. The only variable is how bad someone wants to hack into it.

I used to tell people, if you want a computer that's 100% protected from viruses, turn it off, unplug it and never turn it on again.

#reality

 

[TheCount]

The whole "Apple's never crash" or "Apple's never catch viruses" nonsense has always been just that, nonsense. I love Apple products, but this myth that a lot of people bought into that they somehow defy the laws of the digital domain is stupidity at its finest and it's led to a large number of users that are completely ignorant as to the security of their system, and even worse, they prefer to stay that way.

 

[Reality]

The whole "Apple's never crash" or "Apple's never catch viruses" nonsense has always been just that, nonsense. I love Apple products, but this myth that a lot of people bought into that they somehow defy the laws of the digital domain is stupidity at its finest and it's led to a large number of users that are completely ignorant as to the security of their system, and even worse, they prefer to stay that way.

When I hear anyone say "My computer will never get infected" I just smile. It's not even worth debating it.

#reality

 

[YosemiteSam]

If you had read my previous post you would realize that I said the same thing. Every device is vulnerable to hacking to some degree. The only variable is how bad someone wants to hack into it.

I used to tell people, if you want a computer that's 100% protected from viruses, turn it off, unplug it and never turn it on again.

#reality

I wasn't trying to call you out and say you are wrong. I was just bringing up the point.

 

[trickblue]

I wasn't trying to call you out and say you are wrong. I was just bringing up the point.

I think myself and everyone else here recognized you were calling out the owner of this site... hboy: