Symantec: Mac OS X is virus free.
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Antony
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Joined: 18 Jun 2002
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14 Jul, 2006 8:43 am Symantec: Mac OS X is virus free. [sdp=75228]  
News from The Mac Observer, Symantec's Todd Woodward says that there are no viruses for Mac OS X, and that news reports from earlier this year claiming the first Mac OS X viruses had been found were inaccurate. He says "Simply put, at the time of writing this article, there are no file-infecting viruses that can infect Mac OS X."

He also said that the infamous OSX.Leap.A was not a virus when it was actually a worm.

However, virus free today doesn't mean it will be virus free tomorrow.

For more detail, please see Symantec Security Response Weblog: Mac OS X: Viruses and Security (Todd Woodward, 13 July 2006)

edited, corrected a word

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Last edited by Antony on 15 Jul, 2006 6:55 am; edited once(1)
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Don_HH2K
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14 Jul, 2006 1:56 pm [sdp=75240]  
Just because OS X might be 'virus'-free doesn't mean that it isn't worm-free, exploit-free, rootkit-free, Trojan-free, or any of that. The threat of malicious code on any operating system is real , thus, Mac users definitely shouldn't interpret this as not needing to use updated antivirus software.

As the number of Mac OS users increases, so will the number of malicious programs that run on it.

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Maktab
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Maktab
Joined: 30 Jul 2006
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30 Jul, 2006 10:13 am [sdp=75700]  
Correct, but while it's right to advise prudence and accept that OS X will inevitably be compromised at some stage, it's incorrect to claim that OS X exploits/worms/etc will increase hugely as Macs become more popular. At its base, OS X is just a better thought out and implemented OS than XP and its predecessors, and it will be less open to viruses and worms as a result, regardless of how much its market share increases.

The whole idea that Macs only get less viruses because they have less market share is mostly FUD. Market share is merely one factor, and not the main one.

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Pu7o
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30 Jul, 2006 6:31 pm [sdp=75709]  
Quote:
Market share is merely one factor, and not the main one.
Indeed. And proof of that, is the fact that even though Apache is clearly the most used webserver in the planet, there are a lot more exploits for Microsoft's IIS than for Apache.

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DJGM
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31 Jul, 2006 5:58 pm [sdp=75724]  
Even Apple themselves say that Mac OS X isn't 100% unlikely to to be affected by viruses.

Quote:

6) Check for Viruses
Macs don't get anywhere near the amount of viruses that Windows PCs are prone
to, but that doesn't mean that they can't get infected. If you don't already have
antivirus software, you may want to consider making a purchase. If you have
the software installed, be sure to keep your virus definitions up to date—you
can find the latest updates on your software manufacturer's website.


Source:
Apple Support Article 30362 - Mac Maintenance Quick Assist

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J-M
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Juha-Matti Laurio
Joined: 25 Jul 2004
Posts: 732
Location: Helsinki, Finland
01 Aug, 2006 1:47 pm Re: Symantec: Mac OS X is virus free. [sdp=75742]  
Antony wrote:

....
He also said that the infamous OSX.Leap.A was not a virus when it was actually a worm.



In fact, no several security specialists are needed to say is OSX.Leap.A a virus or not.

This question is not so simple, when people are using word virus of all type of malware. Many people talk about virus protection, virus-free workstation etc. etc.

Saying virus free is not simple, because many people make a conclusion that there is no malicious software in OS X at all and this is not the fact.

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