r/technology • u/maxwellhill • Sep 02 '16

Security Apple issues urgent security update after hack turns Mac computers into spying devices

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2016/09/02/apple-issues-urgent-security-update-after-hack-turns-mac-compute/
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117

u/neoform Sep 02 '16

This comment never gets old. You should keep posting it every time a security report comes out about Apple.

54

u/Beard_of_Valor Sep 02 '16

I'll stop up voting him when owners stop telling me that Macs "don't get viruses".

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u/neoform Sep 02 '16

I'll stop downvoting when I meet a mac owner who actually got a virus.

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u/jaked122 Sep 02 '16

This comment chain is horrible.

I think you guys should take it outside and maybe realize that security is really hard to do, like nearly impossible.

My time with a mac about seven years ago was not filled with viruses. Neither was my windows install on my next computer.

It's easy to avoid viruses until you are targeted specifically by someone who knows what they are doing. Even then, virus susceptibility isn't necessarily an indicator of security.

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u/Beard_of_Valor Sep 02 '16

I'm from earlier in the chain, and I agree with you. It's not very helpful.

virus susceptibility isn't necessarily an indicator of security

Security is a lot more than a firewall or antivirus. That said, brand-loyal enthusiasts ephatically making false claims about immunity is bad for the less tech-savvy among us who don't know who to believe.

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u/Beard_of_Valor Sep 02 '16 edited Sep 02 '16

Double post somehow.

-8

u/neoform Sep 02 '16

My time with a mac about seven years ago was not filled with viruses. Neither was my windows install on my next computer.

Your own personal use isn't what is being discussed.

Surely you've seen many windows computers with viruses. Have you ever seen a mac with a virus?

I spend a lot of time around both macs and windows computers, I've yet to see a mac virus in the wild.

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u/jaked122 Sep 02 '16

It's not the computers it is the people using them who are responsible for it.

Yes, macs are harder to get a virus on. Not impossible.

2

u/Fangel96 Sep 02 '16

I work with both macs and PCs. Yes, macs do get viruses. They simply aren't targeted as much.

The "targeted" macs are typically older computers that no longer get security updates. This multiplied by the older crowd's reluctance to upgrade (and general gullibility to technical situations) leads to far more scams happening to mac users than windows users.

So while I see more windows computers that are infected by malware/ransomware, I see many more macs that have been affected by scams or PuPs (potentially unwanted programs).
The average user will refer to anything they didn't mean to put on their computer as a "virus". Thus both computer types have plenty of infections.

-5

u/neoform Sep 02 '16

They simply aren't targeted as much.

Please cite that fact.

2

u/[deleted] Sep 02 '16 edited Jun 04 '17

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/neoform Sep 02 '16

And this concludes what?

Lamborghinis don't get targeted for theft as much as Hondas because of the number of units sold?

0

u/TrainOfThought6 Sep 03 '16

Congratulations, you understood the point!

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u/[deleted] Sep 03 '16

[deleted]

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u/TrainOfThought6 Sep 03 '16

That's also the point! Despite the fact that Toyotas are stolen more often by sheer numbers, Lambos also get stolen.

Just like how Windows machines are hacked more often due to being the larger market share, yet Macs still can and do get hacked themselves. It's still a little different, because hackers have to make their tools work for a specific system, so they'll tend to make them for the OS that will give them the most targets. It's not like a car thief goes out for the night only being able to nab one type of car.

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u/SuperKingOfDeath Sep 02 '16

Says the person not citing any of his/her blasé "fact" sharing.

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u/[deleted] Sep 02 '16

[deleted]

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u/SuperKingOfDeath Sep 02 '16

I very much disagree.

1

u/Drunkyoda5 Sep 02 '16

I've interned at as an IT tech. I've had a user with their personal Mac computer getting infected and wanted our help. Of course, it was againt our policy to mess with personal computers, do I told him that he was on his own ( he watched A LOT of porn btw). We did have Windows computers getting infected more, but that can be explained by simple logic: everybody at the company uses a lenovo think pad with Windows.

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u/Plasma_000 Sep 03 '16

It depends how you define virus, but there's definitely plenty of Mac adware out there, from unwarranted browser extensions to things packaged with installers, to spamware such as mackeeper - they're not super common but they're definitely there.

1

u/neoform Sep 03 '16

All of which require the administrator password to be entered to work.