Apple pulls anti-virus recommendation
The subject of malware on the Macintosh is emotive enough without this added drama from the mothership. Then again, is there anything to this brouhaha and are there any real threats out there to be concerned about?
The simple fact of the matter is that the knowledge base article (Web archive via TUAW) in question wasn’t new as it had been around since at least June 2007. The only thing fresh in the article as recently quoted were updated version numbers of the three antivirus applications listed—that’s it. The only thing new here is the attention Apple’s publicly published position has garnered, not the position itself.
Still, Apple has since pulled the knowledge base article and issued a statement (Macworld) that says in part, “The Mac is designed with built-in technologies that provide protection against malicious software and security threats right out of the box.”
That’s in line with the company’s message in this Get a Mac ad spot and likely to please the fan boys.
However, additional support for Apple’s turn of face comes from an unexpected quarter—Charlie Miller, Independent Security Evaluators. He’s best known for winning this year’s pwn 2 own hacking competition in which he compromised, took control of and then took home an Apple MacBook Air, as well as a $10,000 prize.
Computerworld tracked him down to ask his opinion on the subject of Macs and antivirus software.
“People have this conception that Macs can’t have malware,” said Miller. “Obviously, that’s false. I’ve written exploits [for the Mac], and there’s nothing inherent in the [Mac] OS to stop someone from writing a virus. But at this point, no one’s taking the effort to go after the Mac.”
Thereupon, the hacker further downplayed the likelihood of any threats, adding that he doesn’t use antivirus software on of his own Macs.
“When Macs make up 30 percent [of the computer market], maybe then there would be an explosion [of malware],” he added. “If I was worried about attacks, I would use [antivirus], but I’m not worried.”
Well, I’m not worried either. Nevertheless, I’m a great believer in a pearl of wisdom uttered by Edna Mode, “Luck favors the prepared, darling.”
That said, I have installed ClamXav, a free and open-source antivirus solution for the Mac, which gets run once a month in the middle of the night and, aside from the occasional suspicious email attachment / Windows virus, it’s never found anything of note, let alone threatening.
Have you installed or plan to install antivirus software? Or, is Charlie Miller your new hero?
Related Posts:
December 4th, 2008
I’m really surprised that the vast majority of people have never run anti-virus software. I always assume people have the software and just run it every once in a while. I use ClamXAV when I want to scan a file I’ve downloaded or received via email, but I don’t have it set up to continually scan. I read a post today at Mac Guru Lounge on the Top 5 Mac Security Tips for the Holidays, which also talked about running AV software.
December 4th, 2008
I’m in the same church, different pew. Being a Linux user, I secure the default install to make it less likely to exploit. I run AV on my Windows boxes. Let the actual OS with the problem take the resource hit.
The nature of ‘nix flavor architecture makes it unlikely an exploit would take out the OS. Apple pulling the AV info isn’t much of a shock. They’ve used lack of exploits heavily in marketing.
December 24th, 2008
Running AV software on the Mac is a waste of system resources. And yes, I’ve heard the cross-platform argument of “but I could pass on Windows viruses”…blah, blah, blah. If you have friends sending you infected attachments, or are dumb enough to open suspicious attachments from people you don’t know, then you deserve whatever is coming to you. And you should probably find new friends while you’re at it.
For the average user, hardening your Mac against the everyday exploits faced on the internet starts with the in-built firewall, a well-configured Firefox browser, and LittleSnitch. Oh yeah…..AND A LITTLE COMMON SENSE!!!