tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8537045684820674531.post2880699809973429151..comments2023-12-22T15:54:02.289-08:00Comments on Consider The Source: Mac Defender - Old Lessons, Still Unlearnedmikeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13057701313718589322noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8537045684820674531.post-30956475072811726062011-06-06T07:23:15.128-07:002011-06-06T07:23:15.128-07:00It is important to remind Mac users that they are ...<i>It is important to remind Mac users that they are dummies too.</i><br /><br />I don't need YOU to remind me. There are plenty of local franchisees in that effort.zombie rotten mcdonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10601960953323752278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8537045684820674531.post-82926148029957636452011-06-05T21:06:42.627-07:002011-06-05T21:06:42.627-07:00This is a relying-on-people-being-dumb attack and ...This is a relying-on-people-being-dumb attack and doesn't have much to do with the OS at all - but hey, I don't use Safari EVER. It is important to remind Mac users that they are dummies too.Substance McGravitashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04118764163822188800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8537045684820674531.post-9560130764392965662011-06-05T20:16:38.414-07:002011-06-05T20:16:38.414-07:00I once convinced a boss to install Sun SPARC Stati...I once convinced a boss to install Sun SPARC Station 'pizza boxes' as his initial rollout of CAD stations, running Microstation. What was the OS? SunOS or Solaris? Some flavor of UNIX.<br /><br />Ridiculous fast, for the time, and inherent networking. Way ahead of the curve.zombie rotten mcdonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10601960953323752278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8537045684820674531.post-72493005198205748732011-06-05T20:11:37.075-07:002011-06-05T20:11:37.075-07:00FORTRAN vs. COBOL....
SCSI vs..... well, nobody r...FORTRAN vs. COBOL....<br /><br />SCSI vs..... well, nobody really ever defended SCSI.<br /><br />I am old school.zombie rotten mcdonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10601960953323752278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8537045684820674531.post-47635577260745194472011-06-05T18:46:20.428-07:002011-06-05T18:46:20.428-07:00I always liked the more obscure religious flame wa...I always liked the more obscure religious flame wars. AT&T UNIX vs. BSD. PostgreSQL vs. MySQL. Cassandra vs. MongoDB. Java vs. Ruby. <br /><br />Then you have all eleven people who genuinely care involved in the argument...mikeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13057701313718589322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8537045684820674531.post-8151491915160532922011-06-05T18:41:03.350-07:002011-06-05T18:41:03.350-07:00dangit, I love me a good old fashioned Mac-PC flam...dangit, I love me a good old fashioned Mac-PC flamewar.<br /><br />I miss the days when the PC users were postively giddy about the ever-imminent demise of Apple.<br /><br />Now I also yearn for the days when they were a niche manufacturer, not the tech leader.zombie rotten mcdonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10601960953323752278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8537045684820674531.post-10886278374366145872011-06-05T15:50:42.165-07:002011-06-05T15:50:42.165-07:00Like I said, I'm pretty much agnostic. I'...Like I said, I'm pretty much agnostic. I've used DOS, Windows, UNIX, SunOS, Solaris, AIX, SCO, MacOS, OSX, and about a dozen flavors of Linux, along with JVMs and various virtualized desktops. My personal preference is Ubuntu, and I recommend it to people because it is solid, secure, modern, flexible, undemanding of hardware and FREE. For someone making an OS decision (where there is no compelling requirement or preference - they are making a CHOICE) it's hard to come up with a reason to pay $200 for a commercial OS. If you want to, however, vaya con dios, mi amigo...mikeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13057701313718589322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8537045684820674531.post-43836210103057304852011-06-05T15:23:00.783-07:002011-06-05T15:23:00.783-07:00So now zombies scavenge computers as well as brane...So now zombies scavenge computers as well as branes?<br /><br />If it makes you feel any betta, I still haven't rendered by verdict yet. The ONE thing I do love about my Mac is the lack of viruses. But that's pretty much it.Dr.KennethNoisewaterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07756205027083077404noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8537045684820674531.post-26663645114585667952011-06-05T14:03:59.540-07:002011-06-05T14:03:59.540-07:00well, the difference is that the Windows default s...well, the difference is that the Windows default setting is to allow auto-installs, while the Mac default is to not. Normal Fucking People will not bother changing those, if they even know how.<br /><br />Every time some functional Mac exploit is discovered, the same 'sea-change' is predicted. And then it doesn't happen. I realize eventually the odds are that predictions of doom will be right, but is the sky always about to fall?<br /><br />I will say that gore-crows notwithstanding, I watch my wife's PC, equipped with the most advanced firewall and anti virus tech available, slowly become unusable over the course of a year, until the HD has to be re-imaged. then after 2 years or so, it is time for new computer. <br /><br />o, VS, you're switching back to Windows becasue you mis the miasma of viruse and malware? because mikey's pronouncements of terror and crisis notwithstanding, it still doesn't happen on my Macs. When you get a new box, vs, I will take the old Mac. i am certain I can find something useful to do with it.<br /><br />And at the risk of alienating mikey forever, I have to confess I do not find anything compelling about ubuntu as an OS.zombie rotten mcdonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10601960953323752278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8537045684820674531.post-87139538214240101522011-06-05T13:55:52.963-07:002011-06-05T13:55:52.963-07:00I've been a MSFT operating system guy since wa...I've been a MSFT operating system guy since way back when Kidder, Peabody's futures department switched to the IBM PC from the Apple IIe.<br /><br />But I have to say this:<br /><br /><i>the same kind of horrific miasma of infections, rootkits and malware as we see on Windows. </i><br /><br />frosts my flakes. I've fought against it as best I can, and still I've got this damned <a href="http://www.computing.net/answers/security/google-search-redirected/24014.html" rel="nofollow">google search redirect</a> on the winetop that is pissing me off this very moment. (Too bad pouring wine into your keyboard doesn't kill it.)<br />~ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®©https://www.blogger.com/profile/06252371815131259831noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8537045684820674531.post-44724434899774802072011-06-05T12:26:06.384-07:002011-06-05T12:26:06.384-07:00Yeah. THis is probably why I will go back to Windo...Yeah. THis is probably why I will go back to Windows when I get my next computer, which will probably be soon. (My computers only seem to last me around 2 years.)Dr.KennethNoisewaterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07756205027083077404noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8537045684820674531.post-49800467693578210922011-06-05T11:44:09.560-07:002011-06-05T11:44:09.560-07:00Both Mac and Windows can be configured to require ...Both Mac and Windows can be configured to require explicit approval before software executes. This is where the social engineering aspect of malware comes in. And it is only common sense that a community steeped for the decades in a sense of invulnerability will be easier to fool than a community that has been under relentless attack for 20 years.<br /><br />The larger question is why should it be possible to configure an OS to automatically install ANYTHING without intervention? Why would that EVER be a good thing? What advantage could possible accrue from such a setting (both Mac and Windows allow that configuration - just try to configure a Linux implementation that way)<br /><br />As to OS choice, yes, the availability or preference of a specific tool eliminates many choices and options. Just as a carpenter must drive a pickup truck, even if he'd prefer a Miata. That isn't part of this discussion - this discussion is around the much larger percentage of people who DO have the option to choose their computing environment (at least at home), and the fact that something of a sea-change occurred in the Mac user community this week...mikeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13057701313718589322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8537045684820674531.post-4638194067248672432011-06-05T11:22:36.824-07:002011-06-05T11:22:36.824-07:00also, after having installed both Windows 7 and Ub...also, after having installed both Windows 7 and Ubuntu on a couple of machines, I find that the OS selection is not, for me, about cost; but rather, operability.<br /><br />I have several mission-critical tasks that require commercial software, for which there is no reasonable Linux alternative. It would be pretty much impossible for me to operate in a Linux environment. Of course, as my career dies, that issue is likely to become moot.<br /><br />In the meantime, I find the modified-unix environment of OS X to be acceptable.zombie rotten mcdonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10601960953323752278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8537045684820674531.post-20849149587015945462011-06-05T11:19:44.453-07:002011-06-05T11:19:44.453-07:00OK, people have been saying that for years.
But...OK, people have been saying that for years. <br /><br />But the reality is that OS X is hardened from install, and any exploits, such as MD, require the intervenetion of the operator or physical access to the computer to install.<br /><br />The assertion that Mac users are ignorant of these issues is malarkey. I suspect the percentage of users who would/will blithely fall for exploits like this is pretty much similar to Windows users.<br /><br />However, OS X offers one big safety factor over Windows; the inability for executable files to download and run without your approval. The setting necessary for MD to run is by default set to off, and if you change it, a warning appears.<br /><br />I confess I am not as knowledgeable about security issues on the iOS.zombie rotten mcdonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10601960953323752278noreply@blogger.com