12/03/2008
Apple stays on its throne : the same security ignorance
The attitude of Apple (and their community) makes me always think about the story with the naked king.
There was once a king and he had all the clothes of the world made by the best. But he always wanted more and better. So one day two wicked salesmen from far away told him they could make him the most beautiful clothes ever made. And that everybody would envy him. So he agreed. After a while the king was ready to put on his new clothes. He was totally naked. So he asked where are the new clothes ? Here sire and they made a spectacle as if they were putting on new clothes. His advisors and staff just told him how beautiful these clothes were, afraid of his reaction if they said that he was in fact naked. So he believed his advisors who told him that he was not naked but had indeed the most beautiful clothes on earth on. Full of himself he paraded with these clothes naked in the street where the simple people had the laugh of the day or should I say the century ?
There was once an operating System called Apple and it said it was the best and most beautiful system of the world. It wanted always to get better and bigger. But one day there were 2 securityresearchers who came by to say that their so beautiful system had a lot of securityproblems and that more was to come. The king of the Operating System was so angry that none of his advisors and staff dared to speak otherwise and just kept quiet, trying to push through numerous security updates hidden in functional updates and trying to silence other dissidents as fast and as hard as possible. The King was convinced that he had still the most secure and beautiful operating system of the world and that he didn't need to listen to those security researchers. But outside his castle it became clear that his people were being hammered in an ever threatening way by attacks and malware. It was all new to him, but he thought it would go over. He made it even the center of his advertising campaign against windows, the system that was being rebuild inside out with security in mind. And so when news get out that he was rethinking his strategy and was telling his users to use an antivirus, he pulled the page with useful information as fast as he could. He should not be contradicted. People should believe everything he says, even if they start having doubts. Doubts are for non-believers and he doesn't want non-believers in his kingdom.
Low hanging apple users community ready to be phished and misused by functionalities like links behind quicktimefiles (stealth downloads) and security holes in drivers and so on..... It took a hacker 30 seconds to take over a MAC during a contest.
thanx for the commenter, didn't go through all my feeds, I really hoped this one was true but it was a dream.
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old news, single quote and subjective interpretation By Aidan Malley
Published: 08:15 PM EST
After years of jabbing Microsoft for the seeming need to run antivirus
software on Windows, Apple has quietly posted its own recommendation for
similar security with its own operating system.
The knowledge base article, posted roughly a week and a half ago,
doesn't go so far as to say the software is necessary but still
advocates "widespread use" of more than one antivirus package to
minimize security risks.
By using more than one piece of security software, virus writers can't
assume that there will be a particular security suite to bypass, Apple
says. In Windows, more advanced viruses already know to look for certain
defense suites and will mask themselves or even disable the protection
to make their tasks easier.
Apple currently recommends Intego's VirusBarrier X5, McAfee's VirusScan
for Mac, and Symantec's Norton Anti-Virus 11.
The posting isn't necessarily a reversal of opinions for Apple, though
it does reflect an overall softening of its opinions. While one of the
first "Get a Mac" TV spots in 2006 made fun of Windows' susceptibility
to viruses and portrayed the Mac as near-immune, the current campaign
doesn't mention this point. The company's current FAQ for curious
switchers also simply says that Mac OS X "resists most viruses" and
doesn't make any blanket statements.
At present, there isn't any immediate cause for a change in Apple
strategy. Outside of proofs of concept, few instances exist of widely
propagated viruses or other malicious code for the Mac.
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/12/01/apple_now_encourages_antivirus_use_for_mac_os_x.html
en:
False Alarm: Apple Mac OS X Anti-Virus Recommendation Is Old
http://gizmodo.com/5100996/false-alarm-apple-mac-os-x-anti+virus-recommendation-is-old
"... while the BBC labels this as the result of a "fresh threat", and the Washington Post wonders if they will stop showing their Mac and PC "Virus" TV Commercial, the reality is that the note is just an update to this support article from 2007"
"The new tech support note, which even shows the reference from the old article, only lists new anti-virus software versions. This is normal in tech notes.
In fact, the old tech note itself is actually nothing new either: Apple offered anti-virus software as part of their .Mac subscription. In fact, the company has been recommending virus software since the pre-Unix years.
In other words: No conspiracy theories, no "quietly published" technical notes. Just the same old recommendation they have been doing forever."
en:
Apple removes antivirus support page
by Jim Dalrymple, Macworld.com
A support page on Apple’s Web site recommending users purchase antivirus software for their
Macs received a lot of attention over the past couple of days, but on Tuesday Apple removed
the page from its Web site.
"We have removed the KnowledgeBase article because it was old and inaccurate," Apple
spokesman Bill Evans, told Macworld. "The Mac is designed with built- in technologies that
provide protection against malicious software and security threats right out of the box.”
The Web page seemed to go against Apple’s newest ad campaigns that suggested only the PC
needs antivirus software. Even though the page has been removed, Apple did not telling
customers to absolutely not protect themselves.
“Since no system can be 100% immune from every threat, running anti- virus software may
offer additional protection," said Evans.
please note: I'm not an Apple fanboy, not at all.
Posted by: me, david | 12/03/2008
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