Macs get viruses too
November 1st, 2007 | by admin | Published in Generativity | 1 Comment
A lot of my recent work concerns how vulnerable the Internet is to bad code — in particular, how easily the generative PCs hooked up to it can find themselves reprogrammed for worse, in a heartbeat, either by drive-by downloads that sneak onto the machine or by code that the user affirmatively (but foolishly) asks to install.
The response to the claim that there’s a real problem here is sometimes that it’s Microsoft’s fault. For example, I endured benefited from a drubbing set of comments along these lines on Groklaw on the paper I wrote first discussing the issue.
But the fact is that (1) Macs have their own security vulnerabilities; (2) interoperability creates avenues for infection that can cross platforms; and (3) the core problem is that generative platforms — where people can choose what code to run — are all vulnerable to people being tricked into running the wrong code. For example, now there’s a fake codec floating around targeting Mac users. Being only 5% of the installed base can only go so far to help one avoid the baleful attention of malware authors!
Thus our efforts at StopBadware …
May 11th, 2008 at 5:27 am (#)
Thank you. (this is my 2nd attemp to write this. the 1st one went poof with the window as I was writing it)
I am of the generation that started with DOS 1 and retired with white hair and a sick body. I knew there would be someone to “carry the torch” and here you/all are. Someday, I had hoped to write/document my experiences, but THANK YOU , it is being done.
GOOD LUCK AND PERCERVERENCE!