[CS-FSLUG] OT: Mac malware authors release a new, more dangerous version

[Jon Glass]

On Thu, May 26, 2011 at 5:08 AM, Fred A. Miller <fmiller at lightlink.com> wrote:
> Apple finally responded to the Mac Defender outbreak, with a technical note
> containing removal instructions and the promise of a removal tool. Within
> hours, the bad guys had released a new version...

I'm sure I'm in the minority, but I don't believe Apple should be
responding to these sorts of threats. They are not technically-based
(i.e., they are not viruses, nor even trojan horses), but rather
social. They are just a form of phishing, which does not belong in the
domain of the system OS provider. In other words, it is up to the user
to beware. I fear that Apple caved on this one, with the result that
we read in this article.

Also, if anybody thinks that this adaptation was accomplished
overnight, think again. They most assuredly had this followup ready
from the get-go (and, in fact, it may have been their very first
version, but realizing that one doesn't show one's hand to the
opponent, they just played their low card first). In other words, any
response is met with an escalation, and they are probably already
ready with their next step.

What I find _really_ sad about this, is that it is preying on Windows
switchers! Most long-term, and especially Mac-only users would not be
distracted by such schemes, as they have never had to deal with virus
protection software, nor their methods of working (download a free
scan tool, but pay to do the cleaning). It's a foreign world to them,
but for switchers, it's all too familiar, so in fear, they succumb...
pure social. Nothing particularly fancy or technical about this at
all...

-- 
 -Jon Glass
Krakow, Poland
<jonglass at usa.net>

"I don't believe in philosophies. I believe in fundamentals." --Jack Nicklaus