Macs Now Targeted by Trojan and Virus Writers

[dualstow]

Is anyone else following the news about these viruses and trojans aimed at computers running Mac OS X? I guess it's time to get some antivirus software for this Mac, because as most of the news articles explain, it is cross-platform programs that are the weakest link. That is, it is no longer sufficient to merely eschew Windows.

Correct me if I'm wrong: I guess this is also why we have to comply with those annoying update requests from Adobe if we want to have Flash on our computers.

The criminals who successfully infected 600,000 Macs with the Flashback malware (aka Flashfake) could just as easily have trained their guns on Windows or Linux users.

That’s the problem with exploits that target vulnerabilities in cross-platform runtimes like Flash Player and the Java Runtime Engine (JRE). Even if your operating system is fully up to date, an unpatched vulnerability in that third-party code can lead to havoc.

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/bott/how-big- ... -container

[craigr]

Flash has had tons of problems. I just block all flash ads, etc. in the browser and choose when to watch something flash enabled. A periodic scan on OSX is not a bad idea, but anti virus vendors are good at scare mongering as well. A good way to avoid tons of malware is to stay away from pirate sites, bit torrent, seedy sites, etc. A lot of infections I've seen in the past on people's computers have been directly linked to that activity.

[BearBones]

Other ideas:
Keep software up to date
Create separate administrative account, and disable administrative privileges from daily use account.
Install ClamXav (free) and have it monitor desktop, downloads folder, and public folder
Install ClickToFlash and JavaScript Blocker extensions for Safari
Uncheck "open safe files after downloading" in general preferences under Safari
Use Firefox with Noscript add-on

[Gosso]

Suckers!

Typed from my virus-free Blackberry Playbook...they don't even make apps for this thing! 

Best Regards,
RIM Fanboy

[dualstow]

Thanks, guys.

I do have flashblock for firefox and a helpful adblock for chrome-- need to get that wonderful CatBlock back that replaces ads with cats.
I agree with Craig's rule of thumb, although the troubling thing about these Java attacks is that you don't need to visit seedy sites to get them. God, I hate Java.

Gosso, that's how sorry Blackberries are. They're not even worth writing viruses for!  :) (Just teasing you).

[Gosso]

Gosso, that's how sorry Blackberries are. They're not even worth writing viruses for!  :) (Just teasing you).

Haha...exactly, the virus writers need to go after the big fish.  There are a few pluses to remaining under the radar. 

[Storm]

Some good tips already.  The only issue Macs have right now (and it is a small one, easily fixed) is that the updates for built in software like Java and Safari only come from Apple, and they have been a little slow to release security fixes.

An easy workaround is to use Chrome as your default browser.  Chrome updates automatically, sometimes every few days, and you always get the latest security fixes from Google.  Chrome also bundles Flash, so you can leave Flash uninstalled on your computer, and get the latest security fixes from Google.  I still use the Flashblock and Adblock extensions in Chrome, because, surprisingly enough, most of the drive by malware comes from ads.  It's very inexpensive for a spammer or some other nefarious character to get an ad company to host an ad for them that contains a driveby flash exploit or some such nonsense.

So, regardless of which platform you use, Mac, Windows, or Linux, if you use Chrome as your default browser and take the appropriate precautions, you should be safe.  As always, don't click on programs you downloaded from the Internet unless you know what it is and trust the source.

[Mountaineer]

Another anti-virus program for Mac.  I've been using this for several months on my Macbook Pro without any issues.  It is free.  It just sits there quietly and does its thing.  

http://www.sophos.com/en-us/products/fr ... ition.aspx

I also use Chrome browser with Adblock, Do Not Track Plus, Ghostery, WOT and TrafficLight extensions.  Yes, I know, I'm paranoid about Ads and Tracking sites    but I have never had any malware show up on either my Macbook or PCs (similar paranoia programs installed on the PC).

[dualstow]

I was going to buy Kaspersky, but decided to give Sophos a try. Just installed it.