Apple Quietly Pulls Claims of Virus Immunity • Hacker News Board

Re: Apple Quietly Pulls Claims of Virus Immunity

#11

Post by rmc » Mon, Jun 25, 2012, 2:32 PM UTC

recursive wrote: post #7

muraiki wrote: post #5

Wow, I had no idea that they said stuff like that on their site. Even though it specifies "PC viruses," the average computer user doesn't understand the distinction. Just last night a relative mentioned how Macs don't get viruses (which I corrected).

Are macs not PCs? Perhaps I'm an average user, but I thought PC stood for "personal computer".

That depends.

To lots of people (myself included), "PC" means "personal computer" and include desktop and laptops from Apple.

However in the 1980s/1990s, there were "PCs" and "Macs". PC was anything running Windows (etc.) and a "Mac" was from Apple (i.e. a Macintosh). Apple (and many Apple fans) continue to use "Mac" instead of "PC". I've had Apple fans ask me if I use "a Mac or a PC?" (Since I use Linux, I don't know what to say :P)

Re: Apple Quietly Pulls Claims of Virus Immunity

#12

Post by zdw » Mon, Jun 25, 2012, 2:33 PM UTC

"It doesn't get PC viruses" will, by definition, always be true. It's just not as relevant as it used to be, as Windows is much better in this regard today. If anything, this change is a nod to how the computing industry has moved on - using a Mac is no longer PC virus avoidance, but more "use this because it's great".

That said, most of the "virus" writers have turned to spyware and adware, and other scummy malware that demands money, and there is nearly none of this on OS X.

Re: Apple Quietly Pulls Claims of Virus Immunity

#13

Post by brudgers » Mon, Jun 25, 2012, 2:34 PM UTC

According to Sophos U.S. senior technology consultant Graham Cluley, this is a sign that Apple is starting to take security seriously. "I view the changes in the messages pushed out by their marketing department as some important baby-steps," he wrote in a blog entry.

The idea that the removal of technical falsehoods from Apple marketing copy represents a watershed moment in their attitude toward the security of their customers' computers is based upon a bar set remarkably low.

Re: Apple Quietly Pulls Claims of Virus Immunity

#14

Post by rbanffy » Mon, Jun 25, 2012, 2:34 PM UTC

recursive wrote: post #7

muraiki wrote: post #5

Wow, I had no idea that they said stuff like that on their site. Even though it specifies "PC viruses," the average computer user doesn't understand the distinction. Just last night a relative mentioned how Macs don't get viruses (which I corrected).

Are macs not PCs? Perhaps I'm an average user, but I thought PC stood for "personal computer".

No. Macs are friends and family ;-)

"PC" is more or less synonym of a generic machine that runs Windows (much like it once stood for a generic machine that ran MS-DOS). It comes from "personal computer" but I think the IBM brand overshadowed the original meaning.

BTW, the PC I'm writing this on, while perfectly capable of booting Windows, never did it. It is, nevertheless, a PC and not a Unix workstation (despite its dual 64-bit processors, gigabytes of RAM, specialized graphics hardware and fast network).

Re: Apple Quietly Pulls Claims of Virus Immunity

#15

Post by jlouis » Mon, Jun 25, 2012, 2:37 PM UTC

crazygringo wrote: post #6

I'm genuinely curious... are there viruses that spread in OSX? Not trojans or whatnot that require users to click on files they shouldn't, but rather actual viruses that make use of vulnerabilities in OSX to spread from computer to computer, either via Internet or thumb drives or something? In other words, if I always follow responsible practices (never opening files from untrusted sources), has there been any threat…

The real question to ask is not "Has there been?" but "Will there be?"

Given that Mac OSX is on the rise on the popularity scale I am almost dead positive we will see a lot of increase in malware for OSX, even remote attacks where the user will be infected even if he acts sensibly.

The risk of that happening to you though is fairly low. The risk of clicking something and then getting malware through that is way higher, from a risk point of view.

Re: Apple Quietly Pulls Claims of Virus Immunity

#16

Post by Avshalom » Mon, Jun 25, 2012, 2:39 PM UTC

recursive wrote: post #7

muraiki wrote: post #5

Wow, I had no idea that they said stuff like that on their site. Even though it specifies "PC viruses," the average computer user doesn't understand the distinction. Just last night a relative mentioned how Macs don't get viruses (which I corrected).

Are macs not PCs? Perhaps I'm an average user, but I thought PC stood for "personal computer".

It does, but it was originally short hand for "IBM-PC compatible" back in the days of DOS.

Re: Apple Quietly Pulls Claims of Virus Immunity

#17

Post by rimantas » Mon, Jun 25, 2012, 2:39 PM UTC

jlouis wrote: post #15

crazygringo wrote: post #6

I'm genuinely curious... are there viruses that spread in OSX? Not trojans or whatnot that require users to click on files they shouldn't, but rather actual viruses that make use of vulnerabilities in OSX to spread from computer to computer, either via Internet or thumb drives or something? In other words, if I always follow responsible practices (never opening files from untrusted sources), has there been any threat…

The real question to ask is not "Has there been?" but "Will there be?" Given that Mac OSX is on the rise on the popularity scale I am almost dead positive we will see a lot of increase in malware for OSX, even remote attacks where the user will be infected even if he acts sensibly. The risk of that happening to you though is fairly low. The risk of clicking something and then getting malware through that is way highe…

  > Given that Mac OSX is on the rise on the popularity scale 
  > I am almost dead positive we will see a lot of increase
  > in malware for OSX

This was repeated so many times, over so many years. Yet OS8-9 had more viruses in the wild despite much smaller market share.

Re: Apple Quietly Pulls Claims of Virus Immunity

#18

Post by FigBug » Mon, Jun 25, 2012, 2:39 PM UTC

recursive wrote: post #7

muraiki wrote: post #5

Wow, I had no idea that they said stuff like that on their site. Even though it specifies "PC viruses," the average computer user doesn't understand the distinction. Just last night a relative mentioned how Macs don't get viruses (which I corrected).

Are macs not PCs? Perhaps I'm an average user, but I thought PC stood for "personal computer".

Originally yes. With the release of the IBM PC the term was used to refere to the IBM PC or compatibles. Since IBM is no longer making PCs the descendants of the PC are referred to as Wintel or Windows machines. The term PC is slowly reverting to it's original meaning.

In the 90s I remember Apple calling HD space 'memory'. Does anybody remember when the stopped doing this?

Re: Apple Quietly Pulls Claims of Virus Immunity

#19

Post by technoslut » Mon, Jun 25, 2012, 2:40 PM UTC

crazygringo wrote: post #6

I'm genuinely curious... are there viruses that spread in OSX? Not trojans or whatnot that require users to click on files they shouldn't, but rather actual viruses that make use of vulnerabilities in OSX to spread from computer to computer, either via Internet or thumb drives or something? In other words, if I always follow responsible practices (never opening files from untrusted sources), has there been any threat…

The recent major issue was a trojan that I didn't have.

>In other words, if I always follow responsible practices (never opening files from untrusted sources), has there been any threat up through now that could compromise my OSX installation?

I don't think so but I think you know that otherwise you would not be here. While this story has been posted recently, Apple has removed such articles on their site a few months ago.

The ID10T's, as some put it, should be on iOS. This is yet another reason why PCs should only be for professionals.

Re: Apple Quietly Pulls Claims of Virus Immunity

#20

Post by jcromartie » Mon, Jun 25, 2012, 2:40 PM UTC

crazygringo wrote: post #6

I'm genuinely curious... are there viruses that spread in OSX? Not trojans or whatnot that require users to click on files they shouldn't, but rather actual viruses that make use of vulnerabilities in OSX to spread from computer to computer, either via Internet or thumb drives or something? In other words, if I always follow responsible practices (never opening files from untrusted sources), has there been any threat…

While some high-profile Windows malware has spread using genuine exploits, it's been a long time since this was a serious problem. The vast majority of Windows malware/crapware have been and still are just trojans (sometimes through very obvious pop-up ads and such).