Linked by Thom Holwerda on Tue 25th Aug 2009 21:56 UTC
With Apple's Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard operating system arriving on people's doorsteps over the coming weekend, you'd think that all the new features are known by now, and there will be no more major surprises. Well, that's not entirely true: on Intego's Mac Security Blog, it is reported that Snow Leopard comes with anti-virus/malware functionality built-in. Update: Snow Leopard testers on MacRumors confirmed the functionality. How, exactly, it works, is not yet known, however.
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Member since:2005-07-06
A lot of badies on the Windows platform seem to disable Msft Defender the first thing they do. Possibly because it's free and the first thing people install, so it's well worth it. One could argue that this makes Defender useless, but in my book this makes Defender a superb indicator of if there is a problem with a machine.
I wonder if Apple Wormspray, or whatever they will call theirs, will be as waterproof tool to determine if a Macintosh is infected?
I've had one virus 13 years ago on a PC and none on my Macs. I am glad Apple decided to be proactive and not pretended like there aren't any problems to make their ads less ironic.
I wonder if Apple Wormspray, or whatever they will call theirs, will be as waterproof tool to determine if a Macintosh is infected?
I've had one virus 13 years ago on a PC and none on my Macs. I am glad Apple decided to be proactive and not pretended like there aren't any problems to make their ads less ironic.
Reminds me of how there are now worms that disable McAfee and Symantec anti-virus software before wreaking havoc. It is a symptom of having security as an add on rather than it being integrated right into the operating system itself. I have a feeling that how Apple does it is by having it integrated right into the way it handles the file so that it isn't possible by something to disable it without bringing down the whole OS - which would undermine a silent infection occurring behind the scenes.
Member since:2005-06-29
I have a feeling that how Apple does it is by having it integrated right into the way it handles the file so that it isn't possible by something to disable it without bringing down the whole OS - which would undermine a silent infection occurring behind the scenes.
Assuming that is indeed the case, it does carry a big downside: keeping the "list" of bad files up-to-date. Apple has a history of keeping things lingering around.
Windows Defender gets updated regularly in the background (in 7 at least, where Defender is an integral part of the OS), separate from the normal update cycle. Apple will have to do the same for this functionality to not only BE effective, but REMAIN effective.
Of course, this isn't an issue now, as said. There simply aren't any serious threats out there for the Mac OS right now.
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Member since:
2007-10-26
A lot of badies on the Windows platform seem to disable Msft Defender the first thing they do. Possibly because it's free and the first thing people install, so it's well worth it. One could argue that this makes Defender useless, but in my book this makes Defender a superb indicator of if there is a problem with a machine.
I wonder if Apple Wormspray, or whatever they will call theirs, will be as waterproof tool to determine if a Macintosh is infected?
I've had one virus 13 years ago on a PC and none on my Macs. I am glad Apple decided to be proactive and not pretended like there aren't any problems to make their ads less ironic.