Internet threats

[Allanvh5150]

And the fact that it has been April 1 here for 18 and a half hours and there is no word of Conficker........

[MikeBrewster77]

And to quote Elton John, "I'm still standing"

And the fact that it has been April 1 here for 18 and a half hours and there is no word of Conficker........

[jcrobso]

We'll disconnect our one Windows PC and keep the Macs humming. We don't put anything critical on the XP system anyway, though it is up to date. It's just better not to take the chance.

You know, I keep hearing that "Your day will come" speech to Mac users, but the day hasn't dawned since Macs converted to OS X. There may be some truth to the "security through obscurity" mantra I keep hearing, but it's a pretty thin rationalization. The fact is there are plenty of folks who have tried, if for no other reason than to shut Mac users up, yet except for proof of concept BS, contests that create unreasonable cheats, or stupid users loading Trojan Horses, nothing much comes from it.

I keep Virus Barrier on my MacBook Pro, but it's never found anything. Ever. As in Never. Still, I'll run it tonight just to be sure. If it finds something, I'll be sure to let you know.

Good luck to all. I expect another dud, like Y2K.

MAC OS does NOT have these, this is why they don't get attacked.
70% of my job at the radio station is IT related! So make sure you have the most current service pack installed and ALL of the updates! Anti-virus is current and spy ware is current. Sit back and relax until the next big threat, yes the MAC people will laugh! John

[4313B]

Are attacks far more targeted towards Windows vs. Mac's? Of course - would you rather take down approximately 10% of individual users, or 90% of personal users and entire corporations who almost exclusively run Windows software. Personally, if I was a hacker, I think I'd go for the highest yield.

Yep.

yes the MAC people will laugh!

What are they laughing at? Their cozy little cage? My personal opinion is that 90% of the population should be required by law to use a MAC. They have virtually no business whatsoever anywhere near a Windows box that isn't running something like Deep Feeze. And they should never be given admin rights. Ever.

The fundamental problem with Windows is that people can't effing behave.

[jcrobso]

I will admit that Widows is job security for me!
IBM had OS2 it was closer to the MAC OS in security, M$ spent millions of $ on FUD to discredit IBM's OS2. It's nice to see how Apple is giving it to M$ over Windows.John

[hjames]

The fundamental problem with home computers is the average use is too stupid to be a sys admin, yet that's what Windows lets them be!
And they are too cheap to pay competent people to manage their box for them.

Like G says, they shouldn't be allowed to have a win box, or at least shouldn't be allowed Network access!

I'm not laughing at them, I just wish they were better managed ...
Its was better when they were only allowed on the AOL sandbox ...

Yep.
What are they laughing at? Their cozy little cage? My personal opinion is that 90% of the population should be required by law to use a MAC. They have virtually no business whatsoever anywhere near a Windows box that isn't running something like Deep Feeze. And they should never be given admin rights. Ever.

The fundamental problem with Windows is that people can't effing behave.

[4313B]

I will admit that Widows is job security for me!

Yep.

And hackers have spawned a whole industry to keep people employed. The whole mess keeps a whole lot of people off the streets.

It was better when they were only allowed on the AOL sandbox ...

[Hoerninger]

Its was better when they were only allowed on the AOL sandbox ...

The years have taught me not to use W$ - more time, more wellbeing.
But the problems often lie between the ears of the user.

___________
Peter

[jcrobso]

The years have taught me not to use W$ - more time, more wellbeing.
But the problems often lie between the ears of the user.

___________
Peter

I have been working PCs for 22 years and thars gold in them windows.
MAC users are missing so much, like BOSD(Blue screen of death) and what fun they are NOT! But that's how I my money to buy JBLs John

[hjames]

Sure - I use PCs at work, plus Win and Unix servers here, but at home, I don't want to waste my personal time fussing with Windows. I don't miss the annual fresh install to keep it at optimum performance, the calls to bangalore or whereveah to reauthorize my XP or VISTA install when it thinks something changed.

I've got Windows running under VMware on my mac -
its there for the few times I might want it, but - its contained!

We have SYS Admins and Helpdesk at work to do all that fun ...
I just manage content - much more fun, much less worries!

I have been working PCs for 22 years and thars gold in them windows.
MAC users are missing so much, like BOSD(Blue screen of death) and what fun they are NOT! But that's how I my money to buy JBLs John

[Hoerninger]

I've got Windows running under VMware on my mac -

Heather has a virtual AOL sandbox!
____________
Peter

[MikeBrewster77]

MAC OS does NOT have these, this is why they don't get attacked.

I'm not sure what you are referencing when you say that Mac OS does not have "these" but to suggest that there are not vulnerabilities, or that trojan horses et. al., have not been designed to target Mac is simply not the case:

http://secunia.com/advisories/product/96/

http://www.macworld.com/article/6081...10/trojan.html

That being said, I think this thread has devolved into a proverbial pissing contest regarding O/S's that is rather pointless, and I highly doubt anyone's preferences will be changed by this discussion.

Enjoy what you have, keep it safe, and everyone's happy

Best,
- Mike

[hjames]

That being said, I think this thread has devolved into a proverbial pissing contest regarding O/S's that is rather pointless, and I highly doubt anyone's preferences will be changed by this discussion.


Best,
- Mike

Actually, folks led it down that path with many of their comments

First post was FEAR - "The internet will EAT YOU, run - unplug your computer and hide it away until the 2nd.

Bo had some helpful comments about software updates and such

You thoughtfully commented on a good firewall.

My initial comment was - see if you can get to the macafee or Symantec site as a recommended by other experts, and if you can't get there you may have a problem.
Then I made a final comment of "Or get a Mac ..."

It wasn't the start of my post, it wasn't the significant part of my post, it was, how you say, a parting shot, and not even a big one ...

After that it was like Roger Rabbit "They can't resist because they're toons, er, trolls, er ..."

From there it predictably ran downhill ... with all all the rich variety of an old outhouse, as poor Bull Lee used to say

[Hoerninger]

I think this thread has devolved into a proverbial pissing contest regarding O/S's that is rather pointless,

Why so grouchy /grumpy? The threat started with a hint for windows, o.k. For a discussion going into deep this is presumably the wrong forum.

and I highly doubt anyone's preferences will be changed by this discussion.

I do not think this was anyones intention.
And it is good to read between the lines even it seems to be comedic, here is no working session.
When I refer to Heathers "AOL sandbox" there lies a good approach inside:

When running Windows in VMware you have always a new start. You have a saved and secured version of Windows on HD. What will be infected can be completely deleted after your working session. This is a very consequent solution for a reliable work.
____________
Peter

[boputnam]

OK, so anyone have any problems so far today?
Know of anyone who has, related to this?

Maybe the whole thing was one big April Fool. That be nice, but I think not...

(edit)

I had another thought. Maybe it was a ploy by the vendors of Malware and such to spike their sales into 2q2009!!