OS X Security

Being new to Mac OS X I read the sticky thread on viruses and firewalls. The advice there seems a little outdated and in my opinion should be updated to reflect that OS X is not invincible. A white paper I found shows the number of vulneribilties in OS X is going up. I am not trying to start a flamewar or anything of the sort. I am worried that the complacency of Mac users will prove to be devistating. Security through obscurity is not the way to keep you computer safe from harm. Granted everyone has heard about the Leap 'virus' that has made some news. Some may not classify this as a virus but it is one step closer to Mac OS X getting exploited in more sinister ways.

I will iterate that I am not a Troll, nor am I trying to start a flame war. I am just stating what I have seen as a computer person in general and a new Mac Convert.

I also think that it is sad that there are only a very small number of AV/AS software available for the Mac

-Vulcan

You need to read up on permissions and Unix/Linux security in general. No, we are not invincible, but we are very safe. If you are really interested in security, check out sites like Packet Storm and OSVDB. There are a small amount of AV because it really isn't necessary. Check out some of the sites about BSD also, as they are our core, and see what they are doing.

A VERY famous hacker once said that if you want your computer to be safe, to unplug it from the wall.

--lifeafter2am

Indeed there isn't a lot of AV because it isn't needed, yet. True that linux/unix permissions do indeed help with a lot. I think that really the biggest problem isn't always with the OS itself, but the users using it.

VulcanMonkey said:

Indeed there isn't a lot of AV because it isn't needed, yet. True that linux/unix permissions do indeed help with a lot. I think that really the biggest problem isn't always with the OS itself, but the users using it.

Click to expand...

Yes, the user plays an important rol, but also does the company. Every time i hear about this security issues i remember an old article about Sasser (http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,117808/article.html). I don't want to talk about Microsoft problems or MS vs. Apple, so just read the link.