On 15/06/2009, at 11:01 AM, Neil Houghton wrote:
It also seems to me that if you were creating Mac malware then
looking at
getting in via parallels or fusion would be well worth investigating
- I am
just hoping that the subset of Mac users running parallels/fusion is
still
not large enough to get the malware creators motivated!
Any thoughts/comments?
Cheers
Neil
Apart from certain windows-specific documents created by the system, I
have no data actually stored in my Virtual Machine. I interact
completely with my Mac data via shared folders, and I share the Mac's
internet connection. Although this strictly violates the Wikipedia
definition of "sandboxing", the fundamental incompatibility between
Windows and Mac OS X is also part of the sandbox, and also does not
strictly fit the definition.
The main reasons for doing this are, quite frankly, convenience. If,
for some reason, my Virtual Machine dies, I can simply ditch it and
create a new one without missing a single byte of data. It also means
that I don't have to mess around trying to convince Windows to break
through the sandbox to connect to the internet - Parallels handles it
for me. I can also use my Mac's printer without having to install the
Windows drivers. The list goes on.
As far as malware goes, the vast bulk of this is coming in on email
attachments and on the back of malicious websites. As I do not read
email in Windows, and my use of the Internet in Windows is restricted
to the occasional software download from well-known sites, the chance
of contracting even Windows malware is minimal. Even then, I tend to
use Safari instead of Internet Explorer just to avoid the diabolical
Active X. Not only that, most, if not all malware currently in
circulation is attacking things like Windows System files and Registry
entries, so even if some of this stuff does leak though to the Mac
side, it's not going to do anything.
I do have AVG installed (because it's unintelligent to run Windows
without SOME sort of virus protection running) but it's more of a
distracting nuisance than anything.
--
Peter Hinchliffe Apwin Computer Services
FileMaker Pro Solutions Developer
Perth, Western Australia
Phone (618) 9332 6482 Fax (618) 9332 0913
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