Why Do People Think MAC OSX Has Built-in AV?

First my dad and stepmom, and then my grandma told me they heard Mac's have a built-in AV, so they don't need to download one. This is false right? Where are they getting this from? Is there any truth to it?

 

It is false. Don't know where they're getting it from. Apple does provide software updates that remove malware, but that's not a built-in AV.

 

Fake. People some how think Mac's are immune to malware.

 

A good AV on a Mac doesn't need to cost either, with the free Sophos AV. I have been using it for a while now, its free, light and very good. Why pay?
There is now more malware and fake AV's floating around designed at the Mac market, so its foolhardy to play on the internet without any AV these days.

 

Don't believe everything you hear...

 

Those people don't realize that the amount of malware targeted at Mac's is limited due to a lack of demand for it. I mean why create malware when Mac users represent the minority of computer users.

 

So you are encouraging the malware creators to create more on Windows platform? Just joking,don't be serious.

 

Macs are great but I don't think they'd be satisfied with being infected by any old run-of-the-mill viruses. Surely they'd be queuing up for days outside the 'iPay' portal to get the latest 'iVirus'.

 

after some time, Mac would be same as windows for infections

 

Keep in mind that a majority of users have no idea what malware consists of. Instead they use the term virus for just about everything.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3662


Apple also releases updates to target specific malware.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4657

 

So we should not call our antivirus as a "antivirus" but "antimalware",right?

 

I know its limited but know knows as Mac gets a bigger user base the malware will increase. Windows is target #1 because of how huge the user base is, but as the Mac user base grows so will the malware for it since more people will use it. Comodo and Avast have Mac versions of their AV's in the work for the OS and my bro has a Mac version of Norton on his laptop.

 

No, the malware targetted at mac does NOT have to do with market share. Not alone at least.

Mac's OSX is just more secure, inherently, than Windows. Now that Windows has leveled the playing field by implementing so many security features (UAC being a big one) they're having a look at OSX too. You'll still see more malware because:

a) Market share
b) It's just easier to make malware for Windows, easier to get it to run
c) There already exist many many toolkits for creating malware for windows

 

It is not surprising to me that "people" believe the "silver bullets" in the media on the social media and yes from our friends and relatives.

Last week I went to a friends place to help get her new wireless printer working. While there I asked if she wanted me to check her security status.

With the go ahead I found AVG latest version installed by her son. But probing the details the product was not set to update to the latest signatures AND it had never ran a scan.

My friend indicated she did not know anything like those steps was needed as it had never been explained to her.

And we ask why do "people" think MAC's have a built in AV?

 

Security through obscurity. A mac is Unix and it has 1/3 more code to hack. Include the Mac GUI that is filled with vulnerabilities and when Russia and China organized crime put their good coders on it it will get hack about the same or a hair less then Windows. OS X has never been vetted by good hackers. Pentesters walk right through with third party apps and internet facing protocols/browsers.

Who the heck keeps saying "but you have to put in your name and password in a standard account so OS X is safe." BS, the words-- vulnerabilities and arbitrary code execution will start to ring a bell in the future.

Yes, Apple has a rudimentary AV, sigs only when the file is touched. No on-demand or real-time.

Macs are not any safer. Security through obscurity, plain and simple.

 

Hacking and malware distribution are completely different. You think malware distributors rely on 0days? Hell no. Those get patched up too quickly, especially when they're being attacked.

Sorry, but it has very little to do with obscurity.

 

the signatures only detect the malware under certain conditions only. if you download the file it will be blocked. if you run the same file from a usb stick it wont be detect and will install fine.
its nice that apple has stepped up to the plate and provides some form of malware protection.

 

Adobe Reader/Acrobat/PDF is one BIG BIG BIG one. Malware distribution relayed very heavily on that program with 0 days to distribute malware on the PC side.

With Apple AV being used at best by 10% it would be a total bloodbath with a 0day on multiple famous ad servers.

50% of Applecare calls were Mac Defender stuff. Many never called that installed. Just think of a 0day when even the smart Mac people would be pwnd.

 

Sort of true.

Since 10.6 OSX has included antimalware protection for some specific known trojans. It's not very sophisticated, and it only works under certain conditions (eg it works under Safari, but not other browsers).

Apple, and many users, also make much of the fact that there are still no known virus threats to OSX - the malware that exists are trojans.

 

@Hungry Man: The only reason Macs are "inherently secure" is because of its BSD base. That version of BSD is also older and less secure than modern ones. Add some more insecure Apple code, and you've got Mac OS X.

 

I'm sure Apple will eventually sell an iAV and the usual apple sheep will flock to it over a free alternative like Sophos, just because it's Apple software.

 

Sheep ? Why is it then that most of the top security experts in the world are now running Macs. You go to a security conference in 2011 and it is full of aluminum MacBook Pros. They have the choice to run any OS and hardware they want. It is not just because it is Unix. It is because they understand the quality of the hardware.

When you own a laptop that is CNCed machined from 2 solid pieces of billet aluminum you may like it too. If you have a brain , you can get a 13 MacBook Pro 13 inch from the refurb Apple store for $899, same price as the plastic crap the others sell. Seems you like squeaky bad fit and finish plastic laptops. Hows your Yugo doing?

 

Source please. Doubt they're true security experts if they rely on Mac OS X. Regular PCs (like Hackintosh) can run any OS and hardware they want. iSheeps are limited to rip-offs.

If you have a brain, you can get a much better deal on a refurbished PC.

 

No. Typical PC user thought process.

Here's out it typically goes:

OSX
Linux/FreeBSD
Windows
OSX again

where the highest is the most competent with computers

there are exceptions, but most of the hackers/ computer experts I know use OSX. The script kiddies who know a thing or two about computers use Windows/Linux. The idiots use OSX as well.

 

I listen to 1-3 hour a day internet security podcasts. I would say I have a good 3000 to 4000 hours of security podcasts I have listened to. I hear the comments from pauldotcomdotcom to Johanes Ulrich a bunch of Sans instructors that are top names in the industry, they comment many times on all the macs now in the hands of security experts. I have watched videos of Black Hat and Defcon and it is full of MacBook Pros. There are a tons of them running Macs because of Unix and the command line. I also hear many comments on the Podcasts about how the Macs have become so popular with the security crowd. It happened in the last 3 years.

It is so funny when you are listening to podcasts from Sophos, Mc Affee , Symantec, these classic PC AV vendors and you hear the OS X Mail chime. This happens a lot on the Podcasts with corporate pentesters, top security researchers and even professors of computer science.

All the top name scanners and hacking tools are now ported to OS X, and it looks like a high number of security professionals have made the move to OS X. Remember Macs can dual and triple boot and I have heard many have OS X windows and Linux on their MacBook Pros.