Mac - The Ultimate Security?
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One of the most common Illusions people have about Macs is that they are immune to viruses. While it's true that, maybe at most 2% of viruses are designed for the Mac, you can still be infected if you are careless. Here is a timeline of Mac Viruses, the most interesting I find being the Elk Cloner Virus. Written by a 15 year old student in 1982, predated IBM PC viruses by years.
Now, Macs are more secure against viruses by default. For a Windows XP and below* machine, you typically log in as an administrator. Anything you do while you're logged on is done as an administrator. For a Mac, if you do anything as an administrator, you must enter your password. You will mostly be infected by either social engineering (tricking you into thinking the software is legitimate), or Mac features, such as autorun in programs like quicktime (automatically open programs when you insert a CD/Floppy/USB/etc). Well, this new strain of "Mac Defender/Mac Security" that hit May 25th no longer requires a password to install. This could be a new trend for Mac viruses. With the Mac OS becoming more and more popular, they become a better target. Windows users are used to weighing on the air of caution with the internet and anything they download or use. Mac users could make a great target. Here are some tips to secure your Mac operating system.
*For Windows Vista and 7 users usually have a pop up that requires you to allow administrator access before you can enter or change certain sections of the operating system. This is a good feature, but has many flaws. People will start ignoring it and there are still plenty of ways to be infected where you will never get the pop up. Always keep your Operating System and Security Software up to date.
New malware tricks users into thinking hard drive failure is imminent | |
Here is an interesting article from Geek.com about a new scareware tactic you should be aware of. Remember, you should Never pay for an application you didn't purchase at a store (Norton or Mcafee for instance). You may also purchase these from the internet, but make sure you buy them from there site directly. Before you buy any software you aren't sure of, Google the name of the software, if it pops up with anything on the first page about "Virus or Scam" you should be wary. You may also be able to find free versions of software that does the exact same thing as the software they wish you to buy. Instead of searching "Picture Editor Software", search "Picture Editor Freeware", or "Picture Editor Open Source". This can save you hundreds of dollars. New malware tricks users into thinking hard drive failure is imminentScareware came by its name honestly (or perhaps dishonestly). The particular strain of malware we are looking at here (distributed as UltraDefragger and SystemRecovery) attempts to ensnare unwary users by displaying sensational and frightening alerts. As Symantec recently discovered, the bad guys have added a new twist to their fake disk defragmentation tools: falsely notifying users that a hard drive is about to fail. Like so many other rogue applications, this “recovery tool” is designed to trick users into purchasing a paid application which can fix the problems that were detected. In truth, of course, there were no problems and there is no fix.
When you don't take basic security steps | |
Ok, if you're a multi billion dollar company and you are responsible for private data for 100 million customers, don't you think you should at least take the most basic security measures to prevent hackers stealing all of your data? Ok, Sony made a mistake, it's not like they knew about the security hole in advance and had months to patch it before the attack...Oh, wait.
Google SSL | |
It looks like Google is revolutionizing search all over again. Google SSL beta will allow your searches to be private from ISPs and any other 3rd party that might be trying to spy on you on the internet. This encrypts your search topic as well as the results that are returned. Any hyperlinks you click will drive you outside of the secure environment. Read on for more information on this new web tool.
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