At 07:51 PM 31/07/02 -0700, Dennis B. Swaney [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: >True there are less pure Mac viruses but there are are cross platform >ones like the macro types in M$ Office. Also, since OS X is basically >an UNIX OS, then it is susceptible to UNIX viruses, worms, etc. >Remember that worm from about 13 years ago that infected the >internet? That was when the internet was virtually 100% UNIX.
Servers of any species are vulnerable to attacks because in offering services (web pages, sending mail, etc, etc) they open many routes into the system, and there are bugs in some of these that allow privileges to be given to attackers. However, a desktop Mac with OSX should not be running most of these services, and so will be much less exposed. The "Internet Worm of 1988" was fixed within 2 days. It used the finger and sendmail services to gain a foothold. There are vanishingly few "Unix viruses". One reason is that the administrator is a different account and has different privileges from an ordinary user (who could be the same actual person). Another is that there is no Outlook for Unix that automatically runs everything it receives. Also, though Word viruses could be cross-platform, in practice most are coded to work only in a Windows environment. -- The iMac List is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | - Epson Stylus Color 580 Printers - new at $69 | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> iMac List info: <http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/imac-list%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
