You Mac’s Got a Trojan? Ha, Ha!
Sometimes we at Apple Matters write articles about the same things, like MacWorlds, new releases and other significant events. Chris Seibold wrote his own take on the Mac trojan issue yesterday and so I hope you're not too tired of the Mac trojan hoo-ha to sit through another about it, because I think this is a significant event, even though some may see it as a negative one. Actually, personally I think it's great.
My favorite story this week was about bit torrent versions of iWork and Photoshop carrying a trojan that would take over your Mac and use it maliciously. I have little time for anyone who's illegaly copying software at the best of times, so this story made me laugh out loud. As John B, a reader on Apple Insider, said, "Poetic justice", and another, Janus, said "Karma!". I couldn't agree more.
Trojans of course have another name in IT circles: "Idiot detectors". It is a generalization, because some trojans are very sneaky, but most times trojans get on a person's computer because they're just plain stupid (the person, that is, not the trojans or the computer).
And you can't protect a computer, not even a Mac, from stupidity. Installing something from an unreliable source is probably one of the most stupid things you can do on a computer. When it comes to trojans, you're only as safe as your security. And like the poor citizens of Troy found out, despite having impenetrable walls, the weakest point in your security is some idiots brain.
If this incident makes you wonder if you should run out and buy an anti-virus software for your Mac, think again. AV software can protect you from a known trojan, as it will scan applications before launching them. However, trojans are idiot driven. If you don't want to encounter one, save your money and play it safe. Further, no AV software can protect you from new threats, so AV software makers are always playing catchup. Which means, if you own a PC and have decent AV software, you're only protected from the known threats. On a Pc that is zillions, on a Mac... viruses for OS X count in the zeros, and trojans you cancount on one hand. And if that had is attached to a smart person, trojans shouldn't be a threat to you.
This incident again highlights the security of the Mac from viruses. It shows that no one has yet been able to successfully crack the Mac to build a self-initiating and self-propagating threat, which is what a virus is. The best they can manage is a trojan which relies on idiots to initialize it and propagate it.
I trust that I am preaching to the converted, as Apple Matters readers are known for their higher intellect, although I doubt anyone would own up to getting stung anyway, so we'll never know if there's some not so bright people readers here!
The interesting thing about this whole occurence is it stirs up the question of software pricing again. That I'll save for another day, but I will say, whether you agree with the cost of software or or not, stealing doesn't change the law. Otherwise shoplifting would have been legalized (or made everything free) years ago.
I'm against pirating software, which is the main reason I am glad this has happened. But it's also good because to me it again demonstrates the security of the Mac. Whoever wrote this trojan would dearly have loved to make it a virus, but that obviously wasn't possible, they needed some idiots to help.
So we can agree to disagree on the priniciples behind stealing software, but if you're prepared to take the risk and then get burnt, well, I just have to quote Nelson Muntz and say "Ha, ha!"
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Comments
“Could you rephrase that? What is “implicit substantiation”?”
What I mean is that they are inadvertently supporting the notion that Macs are only secure because so few people use them, since the claim being made here is that most malware is the result of user carelessness and ignorance.
If you reversed the marketshare, and most of those careless and ignorant users were on Macs, Macs would have the same sorts of malware problems as Windows.
I am not on board with that line of thinking yet. I know you think I am but here is where I am coming from. I think you can make that case but it’s a wait and see to me. We know that windows has had its problems and we know what has happened because anyone paying attention has seen it. Yes, I absolutely believe that there is a lot of user ignorance and bad habits but that’s not all of it. And while Apple has seen a substantial market share increase over the past few years, I don’t believe that we have seen the same in increases in malware threat. I am making no more assumption in there than you are but I do know for sure that we have a front row seat to see what will happen.
Beeb, specious maybe, but certainly a scenario worth considering, although the intent of your last statement is a fair counter-argument.
You’re last statement is somewhat ambiguous because it implies that virii are always destructive, which I doubt you meant. It might have been better to say “destructive malware”.
Following on fro Sterling’s suggestion this was merely a testing of the waters, i.e. finding out if there’s enough stupid Mac users out there, I’d like to modify and expand your last statement to:
Malware writers gave up on destructive variants long ago in favor of more profitable malware that create zombie machines they can control and, rather than needing an OS vulnerability to initiate, rely on the more easily utilised stupidity and/or gullibility of computer users to initiate.
Do we all agree with that?
The problem with Mac users is hilariously presented here-
http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=macs_cant
(Let’s add smarmy and arrogant to the list)