Filed under: Security, Macintosh, Apple, Op-Ed
Intego exaggerates Mac virus threat, misinterprets Apple PR to scare you into buying their anti-virus package
by Grant Robertson Jun 10th 2009 at 4:00PM
Intego, a "leading internet security and privacy software" publisher dropped a press release on my inbox this morning that might as well have read, "Hey, Apple.. Gotcha!"Beyond recognizing the malware threat to Macs, Apple goes further, admitting that the techniques it includes in Mac OS X aren't enough to fully protect Macs from viruses and malware. The company provides security advice, as Intego has said for many years, saying, "since no system can be 100 percent immune from every threat, antivirus software may offer additional protection." (emphasis Intego's)Complete with footnotes, Intego uses the feature list for Apple's upcoming OSX 10.6 release to essentially say, "There, we told you so! Apple put thought into securing its operating system therefore it must be vulnerable!"
How does an enumeration of security features imply a susceptibility to malware? That's like calling GM to the carpet for agreeing that a car parked in a locked garage is more protected than one parked on the street. The very concept of a garage offers additional protection, it however doesn't imply that the protection is actually necessary.
Maybe it's me. Maybe I expect too much from a company who sent out a press release about Conflicker which read in part, "This worm, which affects Windows computers, has no effect on Mac OS X; at least not yet. Intego's Virus Monitoring Center is on full alert in case a Mac OS X variant of this worm should appear"
Wait, is this thing going to magically change from a worm written directly to the vulnerabilities of Windows into some shape shifting super worm that defies the all the reality of modern computing, as well as all common sense and logic? Does anyone else picture Intego's "Virus Monitoring Center" as some overweight bald guy trolling Slashdot while eating Cheetos?
My advice? Save your money for magic beans. And, if the nagging voice inside your head absolutely won't be quiet until you buy quasi-useful anti-virus software for your Mac, don't buy it from Intego.
Intego were contacted for comment, but failed to respond prior to publication
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Phoenix said 4:50PM on 6-10-2009
Not for nothing, but no computer is safe from malware. Not a Mac, not a Windows PC, or a *nix PC. In case you didn't know. An independent security research team found that (surprise!) Vista had far fewer security vulnerabilities than XP and even OS X. I'm not supporting Vista, I am a Mac user, I'm just saying.
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Grant Robertson said 4:53PM on 6-10-2009
I can't find a single example of an independent report to back up your claim. I can only find one report which makes this claim, which was published by Microsoft. Not surprising.
If you can provide a link to what you're using as an example, I'd love to revisit this statement.
cantubury dunhhill said 5:08PM on 6-10-2009
damn that shape shifting super worm, now who sent those hackers to a shaman to conjure that up, and did this article refer to "magic beans" i bought some from a flea market and they dont work. who can we trust today if not marketers and advertisements.
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Skrying said 11:08PM on 6-10-2009
This is a joke, right? Conflicker appeared in the wild in MULTIPLE FORMS. That's because it was being SENT OUT AT MULTIPLE POINTS with CHANGED CODE in order to BYPASS AND ATTACK A GREATER VARIETY of COMPUTERS. Would a Mac version appear? No, because there is no point in wasting time on a Mac version. The market share is to small and the people/person behind it was busy enough continuing to try to outdo Windows protection schemes.
Are Macs as vulnerable right now? No, because no because virus writers with a goal (creating a net of zombie computers) doesn't want to go after the small share. The time just doesn't make sense. But acting as if your Mac is some how a 100% locked up ship is just as moronic as Intego's scare tactics. If you're going to write a piece like this at least have some clue as to what you're trying to write about.
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Grant Robertson said 11:18PM on 6-10-2009
If it were rewritten for the Mac, it wouldn't be Conflicker. Simple as that.
And as for "acting as if your Mac is 100% locked up ship", well.. are you drunk?
Given that you'd need to a) gain root privileges, or b) deceive the user into typing their password into a dialog, therefore granting you root access, the barrier to entry for an exploit is significantly higher than its Windows counterparts.
Macs are certainly a worthwhile target, ask any developer or company currently turning a profit making a Mac only app. Exceeding the host application's privilege level on a Mac is far more difficult, and involves not only exploiting the application, but also circumventing the operating system.
Skrying said 3:19AM on 6-11-2009
First, Conflicker was about the bot net it was trying to attach the computers to. The means it went about changed, that's why different versions were labeled differently. It appearing on the Mac wouldn't have changed its goal. You don't call programs by a different name even though they appear on different platforms. That would be moronic. Next thing you'll say Photoshop isn't really Photoshop if it's on Platform X.
Have you used Windows Vista or 7? It sure doesn't seem like it.
Attack Intego's evil marketing all you want. But don't start talking about other issues you clearly have no solid basis on.
matthew rutledge said 10:36AM on 6-19-2009
I interviewed for Intego several years ago, in 2003 I believe. I only applied because I was laid off from Apple (during one of their only layoffs) and they were a Mac software company. It was a stuffy, arrogant and mostly French staff transported to a suburban office park in Austin, Texas. They didn't like me, I didn't like them, because I wanted to know specifics about what the software actually did to combat virus, since at the time, there wasn't really a prevailing thought that there were any significant ones on the Mac. They told me at the end I wasn't what they were looking for, which might be refreshingly frank in a very Frankreich way, but I was nonplussed. Got a job offer a week later for a company I ended up really liking and moved back to PC land.
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