General software updates

[Rik]

[Simon]

[Baz]

why do you not get the upgrade from within the program itself.All I get is the database updates 

[Gary]

It's nice not to need antivirus...

Never say never Sebby, Macs are getting more popular, there are a lot of malicious websites that can redirect a browser  even the PS3 browser has a trend micro (not for me) net filter you can purchase now to stop yourself getting dragged off to a malicious website, or your credit card information being gleaned. Macs are vulnerable to phishing attacks also, and the RSPlug.A  Trojan which disguised itself as a quicktime video component poisoned a Macs DNS settings a few years back now. No browser in my mind is ever safe on the net these days.

[Den]

I would say that Mac users are throwing them selves open for an attack if they are not running antivirus software and when that attack comes as it surely will it will knock the Macs off the planet and all for being to complacent.   

[Sebby]

AFAIK, there are no antivirus applications for the Mac, other than Norton.

[Rik]

Which is often worse than a virus.

[Steve]

There's Virus barrier x5 by intego ,Avast also do one, both of these do a combined package if you've got windows installed on the same machine.Windows obviously being the danger,

[Sebby]

I really don't feel I need antivirus. I don't have Windows installed and have intention of doing so. I use OpenDNS so am shielded from the majority of dangerous sites, and I'm careful with what files I open. I think I could have done away with AV on Windows tbh, but that's dangerous.

[Noreen]

Never say never Sebby, Macs are getting more popular, there are a lot of malicious websites that can redirect a browser  even the PS3 browser has a trend micro (not for me) net filter you can purchase now to stop yourself getting dragged off to a malicious website, or your credit card information being gleaned. Macs are vulnerable to phishing attacks also, and the RSPlug.A  Trojan which disguised itself as a quicktime video component poisoned a Macs DNS settings a few years back now. No browser in my mind is ever safe on the net these days.

First I have to say that I know nothing about Macs or their software however as mentioned in another post elsewhere I recently looked at the US Homeland Security site that deals with viruses etc and saw this.

Mac OS X Includes Known Vulnerable Version of Java
added May 20, 2009 at 11:22 am

Current releases of Mac OS X (version 10.5.7 and version 10.4.11 with security update 2009-002) include a version of Java Runtime Environment (JRE) containing known security vulnerabilities. US-CERT is aware of publicly available exploit code for one of these vulnerabilities. This vulnerability may allow untrusted applets to obtain read, write, and execute permissions to local files and applications with the privileges of the local user. A fix for this vulnerability has been released by Sun, but Mac OS X users cannot apply the fix directly. Mac OS X users must use Apple updates to obtain updated JRE versions. At this time, Apple has not yet released an update to address this issue.

US-CERT encourages Mac OS X users to disable Java in each web browser they use until a patch is available from Apple. Guidance for disabling Java can be found in the Securing Your Web Browser document. Please note that disabling Java may affect the functionality of websites that use Java.

US-CERT will provide additional information as it becomes available.

[Rik]

I think you're right, Noreen, even if the Mac is not attacked directly, it's likely to be caught out by something like Acrobat Reader, Flash or Java.

[Gary]

I think you're right, Noreen, even if the Mac is not attacked directly, it's likely to be caught out by something like Acrobat Reader, Flash or Java.

Theres a case in question now Rik, Quote "More than six months after Sun Microsystems warned that a flaw in its Java virtual machine made it trivial for attackers to execute malware on end users' machines, the vulnerability remains unpatched on Apple's Mac platform" more details here no matter how tightly a Mac of even something as obscure as the PS3's browser and OS maybe there will be always someone chipping away at it sadly, if they cant hack the OS itself something like java or flash (PS3 uses both)  will get it.  Better safe than sorry I guess.

[Rik]

I certainly feel that way, Gary.

[Steve]

I think this article answers the question of mac AV software.

I don't run AV on the Mac OS I do run AV on the Windows guest OS however it is theoretically possible for me to act as an innocent conduit for an infected file if I download load it on to the mac and then pass it onto another windows user. Although this article is a year old I think the comments are still pertinent

"Desktop antivirus software is also only a limited defense, and one that's typically very resource intensive. By even the most positive assessments, antivirus software catches only 85 to 95 percent of known malicious software (viruses, worms, trojans, and other nasty stuff) in the wild. This leaves a significant level of exposure, especially considering you're running software that brings your system to its knees whenever you have a full scan scheduled. Antivirus tools are intrusive by nature, don't offer nearly the security they advertise, and can be costly to maintain over time. I personally rely on other defenses to prevent malicious code from ending up on my computers in the first place, and so far (fingers crossed) have never had antivirus software find anything on any of my Windows XP systems. I don't even bother to run it on my Windows Vista systems, due to that platform's stronger security and the limited number of malicious programs that target Vista"

[Sebby]

Interesting. A lot of people turn UAC off in Vista, though, which would leave it almost as susceptible as previous versions of Windows, wouldn't it?

[Steve]

That's why I never turned UAC off. I think when many household computers are shared devices the security setup has to be appropriate to protect all users from the dinosaur to the more single minded exploratory teenager.

[Sebby]

Do you not feel that UAC is so intrusive compared with the way Mac OS X handles it?

[Steve]

Do you not feel that UAC is so intrusive compared with the way Mac OS X handles it?

Well I certainly don't miss it,if you look at program installation, on the mac I would be using the application whilst Vista would be still be asking questions in the same time frame.

[Sebby]

I suppose that's true to some extent. But then how many people take notice of it anyway? My mum, for example, would just allow anything permission in Vista or Mac OS X, because she doesn't actually know what it's asking.

[Rik]

That's how I got most things past my mother, always phrase the question to confuse.

[Sebby]

[Steve]

I suppose that's true to some extent. But then how many people take notice of it anyway? My mum, for example, would just allow anything permission in Vista or Mac OS X, because she doesn't actually know what it's asking.

In Mac OS X your mother even with administrator privileges would not have root access  which if I recall is not the case in XP/Vista

[Sebby]

Ah, I see.

[rgt247]

Vista Service Pack 2 is out......... 64Bit 

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/948465

[Rik]

That will please Sebby.