Apple to support reps: 'Don't confirm Mac infections'

From the The Register

There is, however a removal guide, assuming the timeline is correct and please do not proceed if you are a Mac user without Expert Help.

 

Lol, we've got all the evidence available. Official confirmation is useless.

 

It will probably take a gathering of Geniuses to perform an 'Apple Quickening'?

"Out, out, you demon of stupidity!!"

(↑ Officially a Dogbert™, I know )

 

Something like that, the jury is still out actually, we should probably see a lot within the next days or weeks.

 

We have the last news...and the new instruction from Apple...they are still "the best"
(...) "So how big is the problem? Apple’s silence makes it impossible to know for sure. However, I’m told that the division that handles Mac support calls receives between 10,000 and 20,000 calls a day. If 25% of those calls are related to this issue, which has been going on for 25 days, the total number of customers affected could be between 60,000 and 125,000, and growing.

One contractor who works for a third party that handles support calls for Apple in North America sent me a confidential document that had been distributed to all personnel at his location. The document contains detailed instructions from “the client” (Apple) that the firm’s employees must follow when dealing with calls from customers asking for help with Mac Defender issues. (I’ve posted a copy of the document at the end of this post.)

The document, which is labeled “Valid as of May 20th 2011 subject to further revisions,” instructs support reps to “Start with an upbeat tone and stay positive.” (...)

The end of the document includes a list of “Things you must never do according to the client.” The list of prohibited actions includes all of the steps required to clean a Mac Defender infection:
- You cannot show the customer how to force quit Safari on a Mac Defender call
- You cannot show the customer how to remove from the Login items.
- You cannot show the customer how to stop the process of Mac Defender in their Activity Monitor.
- You cannot refer the customer to ANY forums or discussions [sic] boards for resolution (this includes the Apple.com forums) (...)

One rep who contacted me via e-mail describes the current mood among fellow support reps as “horrid,” adding, “We are now under strict orders, of course without distinctly saying it, to help NO ONE with Mac Defender under threat of our jobs … All I heard all day today from other advisors was how Apple doesn’t want to take care of its customers and how this new policy constrained our ability to do our job and directly affects our pay.”

A second rep told me, “The **** has hit the fan.”"
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/bott/appl...upport-reps-do-not-help-with-mac-malware/3375

 

So what is the reasoning behind not guiding users through the steps to remove this malware? I'm not a Mac user and probably never will be, so maybe the answer is obvious to those who use one, but not to me.

Is it because they don't want their call centres inundated with calls?
Is it because they don't want to admit that Mac's can get hit by malware?
Is it because they don't want to give incorrect removal instructions and then get slammed for not know how to remove the malware?
Do they just want to redirect users to "the apple store" to buy a 3rd party product?

I'm not seeing the upside to denial for them.

 

This is pretty serious. Why can't you show things like stopping processes? Dear Apple, it's common knowledge on Windows. Is it better to let malware run on your computers?

 

From my experience while checking out the possibility of buying an iMac, not being vulnerable to infection is one of their selling points. I visited the Apple iMac forum and asked if anyone could recommend an AV. The response over and over was "you don't need an AV. Enjoy your iMac". After doing a little digging I found that a few exist including Endigo, Sofos, and Clam. But if I asked which one folks recommended at the forum, I would be chastised for asking by most but got recommendations by a few.

 

Is that a new Mac AV? Or do you mean Intego

 

Which ever is right. I didn't check the spelling.

 

From Apple, How to avoid or remove Mac Defender malware. Published May 24, 2011.

 

Oh that's very clear

 

LOL then why did you ask?

 

It's things like this that makes me prefer Windows over Mac. And looking at the price tag makes it even easier. I prefer GNU/Linux even more, but that's not my point.
My point is, i've learned to dislike Macs without even owning one.

It seems that, whatever problems Microsoft has/creates, and they're plenty, Apple shows, or at least hint that they are worst than Microsoft.
We just don't get the whole bs because they're not dominant.
But that's just me.

 

Some further reading on the subject that I have found in my travels.

Hat Tip to:David Harley of ESET for these links.

Mac Guard fake AV raising the bar, Apple Speaks

 

Because I still wasn't sure if "Endigo" was a new AV or not.

But now it's "Very Clear" that it's not a new AV when you said that you didn't check the spelling.

 

From Brian Krebs

 

I much prefer PC's to Macs. At least Microsoft tries to patch things and acknowledge problems. And if I don't like Microsoft then I can use Linux or any number of other OS's. I also like the more open nature of PC's as opposed to MAC's. When I read stuff like this it just reinforces my feelings about Apple. I'll never have an Apple computer.

 

An excellent follow-up article from ESET's David Harley

Follow the Money when it changes address

 

From: Wired Threat Level

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