On Thu, 1 Nov 2007, Dr. Neal Krawetz wrote: > I've been reading this thread and I don't understand why there is this > assumption that Mac users are lax or stoopid... > > I have a Mac. I also use Linux, BSD, Windows, and many other OS's. > > Yes: there are very few malware instances for the Mac. > Yes: there is virtually no AV for the Mac. > > However, I don't know any Mac users who are not also Windows users. > And ever Mac user I know (in and out of the security field) are much more > cautious about their systems. They regularly update and they don't run > software that they don't know. They have learned these lessons from > watching (and being) Windows users. > > Based on the screen shots of this trojan, you must accept the download. > One screen shot even requires you to enter your admin password. > While Windows users (particularly Vista) would do this without a second > thought, I suspect that Mac users will be more cautious and few people > will fall for it. > > Mac viruses won't become wide-spread until they can auto-install and run > without human assistance (like Windows malware). > > Am I missing something here? (Beyond the Apple bashing?)
I think you're missing the fact that there aren't two distinct subspecies of human (Appleuseriens and Winuseriens), there's only one, and that one species displays the usual range of non-cluefulness (which isn't actually the same as stupidity, by the way). And whether you run a Mac, or Winx, you've probably become accustomed to your computer telling you "I need to get xxx to run this, OK?" and giving it authority to do that. _______________________________________________ Fun and Misc security discussion for OT posts. https://linuxbox.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/funsec Note: funsec is a public and open mailing list.
