Computer terrorism
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McAfee has stated that Macintosh computers in a mixed environment (in a network with Windows computers) posts a virus threat, i.e. the Macintosh computers are “incubators” for Windows virus because Mac users with the lack of viruses to its OS, are more careless when it comes to handling this topic. This cannot be done. Macintosh computers can not get infected with Windows virus because:
- Macintosh binaries / programs and Windows programs are two different things. It’s like comparing apples with oranges. Mac programs (and then viruses) can’t run on Windows systems and vice versa.
- The security of a Macintosh computer is very high per default. Not 100% safe, but close. But then again, no computer is safe.
- If someone should make a Mac program with an embedded Windows virus in it, it had to function as a mac program, and the Mac OS does not permit installing and/or running “alien” programs without the permission of the owner of the OS. So we’re back to the old thing with “if you’re stupid enough to install something you don’t trust…” etc.
So, McAfee is just out to sell more software by scarring new Intel Mac owners into thinking they are a threat to others. Smells a bit of the current U.S. government’s way of doing things. If you take a look at the front page of McAfee’s web site you see a kind of “DEFCON” – a “Global Threat Condition” gauge that tells you the current level of virus-threats. Bad taste, if you ask me. The next we’ll see is that it will no longer be called “Computer Virus” but “Computer Terrorism”, and then later, just “Terrorism”..? Gee.
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Apr 23rd 2006
What the McAfee executive says is: “That [...] because you can have infected files on the Macintosh that do not infect the Macintosh but at a later date those get transferred across to a Windows machine which they can infect. Macintosh users still need to be scanning for Windows viruses to make sure that they’ve got clean files and don’t have infected files that they can pass on”.
That statement is, in essence, true but also wildly misleading. There are so ridiculously many “if”s and “but”s that while the statement is not false it is incomplete at best. McAfee is trying to scare Mac users into buying their software on the grounds that it scans for Windows viruses on the Mac in case you download a PC application on the Mac and then transfer it to (an unprotected) PC later on. A highly unlikely scenario.
Bad marketing.
Apr 23rd 2006
Well – now that the world of Windows and OSX is beginning to melt together that doesn’t sound like an unlikely scenario. The cool thing would be to offer the same application for the users across both platforms.
Apr 29th 2006
Still, Mac users should not feel ashamed or guilty about issues with Windows OS, no matter what working environment they are a part of. Surely with the new Intel macs and with the possibility of a dual-boot on a Mac (both OS X & WinXP on the same machine), you are beginning to melt the two worlds together, but that does not mean that you have to burden yourself more than necessary with frightening postulations, that ultimately has nothing to do with your OS of choice. It would be the same as to say that you should be very careful not to place your garbage in an unlocked garbage bin because of the possibility of someone deliberately walking up to the bin, eating or handling some of the garbage, and as a result becomes sick.