On Feb 8, 2005, at 11:50 AM, Rick McCutcheon wrote:
This raises for me the general question of what people are running for virus
protection (if anything) on their vintage Macs -- meaning anything running
with OS9.x and below. Any related comments on this subject would be welcome
(at least by me!).... How careful do we need to be given the relatively
[sic] diminished problem in the Mac world. (Or is that too quick an
assumption?) Etc.
Nothing.
I haven't run anything on any mac of mine since the days of Disinfectant. No viruses either. The last virus I got on any Mac was WDEF, which I cured by upgrading to OS 7.
Even MS Word and Excel macros aren't very widespread anymore, and modern versions of both those programs intercept macros when you open the file.
My opinion is that any company selling Mac antivirus software today is committing fraud.
In the now nearly four years after the introduction of OS X not one single virus attacking it has been released. a pathetic proof of concept was floated by Intego last year...it amounted to a file with a spoofed icon and creator/program types.
Even MacWorld couldn't find any REAL viruses to show for their pathetic OS X security article in the March issue..the illustration shows a bunch of Windows viruses.
Mac users cannot 'inadvertently' pass on Windows viruses, it has to be a deliberate act. MS Word and Excel macros don't affect the Mac, and as I said are rare in any case.
The differences between the OS X and Windows security models make it a lot harder for viruses to be written for the Mac.
I'm sure someone will jump in and proclaim that this is just 'security though obscurity' or some such claptrap, but it isn't.
It has ALWAYS been harder to write Mac viruses than PC viruses.
-- Bruce Johnson University of Arizona College of Phar acy Information Technology Group
Institutions do not have opinions, merely customs
-- PCI-PowerMacs is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and...
Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | -- Sonnet & PowerLogix Upgrades - start at $169 | & CDRWs on Sale! |
Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html>
PCI-PowerMacs list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/pci-powermacs.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/pci-powermacs%40mail.maclaunch.com/>
iPod Accessories for Less at 1-800-iPOD.COM Fast Delivery, Low Price, Good Deal www.1800ipod.com
