spyware

[bvijayrao]

Hi, can any body please tell me if mac os x can be affected by spyware
Vijay

[edshin95]

there r absolutely NO viruses or spyware for Macs

[timswim78]

Originally Posted by edshin95

there r absolutely NO viruses or spyware for Macs

I'm not sure if your statement is true or not.

However, very serious security holes exist in all major operating systems, so it is important to make sure that you always have the latest security updates installed.

[bvijayrao]

I thank both of u, for promptly replying to my query

[barhar]

01. Currently, there are no spyware applications on MacOS X.

'... very serious security holes exist in all major operating systems' - have you personally come across even one? If so, what was / were the result(s)? (This is not a personal attack.)

'... so it is important to make sure that you always have the latest security updates installed.' - ... if you do, then periodically, view 'MacFixIt' for (hopeful) resolutions to all the newly introduced problems.

Typically, Apple only provides security updates to MacOS X 10.3.9 ('Panther') and the latest MacOS X 10.4.x ('Tiger') version (10.4.6 at this time). Thus, if you have any earlier MacOS X version (10.3. to 10.3.8, or 10.4.0 to 10.4.5) - you must first update your MacOS X (to 10.3.9 or 10.4.6) - which may then introduce any number of new problems, and then install the latest respective 'Security Update'.

02. If you have been using your Mac with little or no overall problems, and are not directly affected by any (published) 'security holes', then keep your current configuration as is, and continue to enjoy your Mac.

[timswim78]

Originally Posted by barhar

01. Currently, there are no spyware applications on MacOS X.

'... very serious security holes exist in all major operating systems' - have you personally come across even one? If so, what was / were the result(s)? (This is not a personal attack.)

Yes, I have come across several security holes in operating systems.
Here are two examples:

A particular OS X security hole that I encountered was the piece of malicious software that was distributed on the macrumors forums a few months back. Someone linked to a piece of software that was supposed to have information about OS X 10.5. Several users on the board downloaded this only to find out that they had been infected with some type of Trojan or virus.
http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2006/...16005401.shtml
There are other documented OS X "proof of concept" viruses floating around the net. I am sure that they can be found with a quick Google search. Here are some examples of OS X security holes.
http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=14402
http://www.securemac.com/
http://www.macnn.com/articles/06/04/...ecurity.holes/
http://software.silicon.com/security...9156900,00.htm

In addition, I have received a virus on Windows that blew right by my antivirus software. It didn't seem to do any harm, but I did not want to take any chances. So, I restored all of my files and installed a new antivirus system. (I do nightly backups.) Since this is a Mac OS X board, I won't go into any more detail about the many threats to Windows security.

The lessons that I have learned are to be cautious when opening any file and to always have the latest security patches.

[jbarley]

Originally Posted by timswim78

Yes, I have come across several security holes in operating systems.
Here are two examples:

A particular OS X security hole that I encountered was the piece of malicious software that was distributed on the macrumors forums a few months back.

This is taken from the link on MacRumors you pointed to,
--------------------------------
It appears that there is some debate about the classification of this application, and as it does require user activation it appears to fall into the Trojan classification, rather than self-propogating through any particular vulnerability in OS X.
---------------------------------
And this indicates to me there was NO security hole, just a not too smart operator, opening a file he should'nt have.

jb

[Mikuro]

Originally Posted by jbarley

And this indicates to me there was NO security hole, just a not too smart operator, opening a file he should'nt have.

There was indeed a security hole — and a BIG one, at that. The result was that by merely downloading a file in Safari, a program could be automatically launched. From there, it could do just about anything, with no user interaction.

Apple has already fixed at least part of this hole, but there's no question that it was there. And that was not the first time such a security hole has been found in Safari.

OS X has lots more security holes than people like to admit. However, the fact remains that I can count all the actual exploits on one hand, and with the latest security updates, they're all moot. But, of course, there will be more at some point.

Bottom line: spyware, viruses, and all kinds of malware are not big problems on OS X. They hardly warrant any thought at all, really. I just recommend taking two steps:

1. Turn off the "open 'safe' files after downloading" option in Safari (if you use Safari).
2. Be careful what email/IM attachments you open, naturally. Just because something has a JPEG icon doesn't mean it's a JPEG.