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Thoughts on Snow Leopard's anti-malware features
Now that Snow Leopard is out and about, much is being made of the anti-malware features in the new operating system. The company has put controls in to recognise and remove a pair of known Mac trojan attacks.
First off, let me say that Apple without a doubt made the right move here. The flow of Mac malware is at a trickle, but could begin to really pick up if attacks are successful. While the rate of new trojans is still slow, Apple can stay on top of new threats and provide users with a decent level of security. The company may be able to nip the issue of Mac malware in the bud for at least a while.
However, the new protections are not really AV, as many third-party vendors are pointing out. Perhaps feeling the heat a bit, security vendor Intego has posted a laundrey list of some of the things Snow Leopard's protections can't do, such as repair infected files, scan DVD and USB drives or prevent malicious .mpkg files from executing.
So if you're the type that really, really wants to be secure, then you'll still want to stick with your AV package. If, however, you're amongst the majority of Mac users that rely on safe practices and common sense to stay safe, this will be a welcome bit of extra protection against the few Mac malware threats that are out there.
First, the 3rd party vendors have virus protection programs to sell. They will always cry wolf.
Second, there have been no viruses on Mac OSX in the wild since 2001. There were plenty on Mac OS 9 (not Unix based). This states that a smaller use base is NOT the reason that viruses have not propogated on the Mac. It is the BSD unix underpinnings of the OS. Look at other BSD unix based OSes and the scorecard for viruses.
Please stop reporting (if you call this shill for vendors and Microsoft reporting) misinformation.
Posted by Alan Smith | September 3, 2009 4:11 PM
Of course, the new malware program is not an anti-virus application and doesn't act like one. Unix certified OS's don't get virus', worms, adware or spyware. Only Microsoft windows gets those.
But, if it makes you feel more comfortable to spend hundreds of dollars at Intego, you have mine and Apple's blessing.
Posted by Louis Wheeler | September 3, 2009 5:01 PM