Zombie Macs and Unicorns
April 21, 2009 by Jason Bean
Filed under Computers
We all know that Apple and Macs are the uber-secure computing environment of choice for anyone that’s interested in computing securely? PC’s on the other hand are like pre-schoolers in a daycare full of sick kids. They’re going to catch whatever virus and bug floating around the room before you can even realize you’re all out of graham crackers and Kool-aid. I mean finding a non-perfect Mac is like seeing a unicorn in your backyard isn’t it? That is the case right?
Edited screen shot of PC vs. Mac commercial
Perhaps not so much anymore. Viruses may have a notch on their Apple belt now that researchers with Symantec have discovered what could be the first Mac and OSX based zombie machines executing denial-of-service attacks on a network.
They describe this as the “first real attempt to create a Mac botnet” and notes that the zombie Macs are already being used for nefarious purposes.
The researchers pointed to this blog entry that describes a a PHP script, running as root, launching attacks against an unknown Web site.
I’m not a Mac hater, I just hate the blind zeal that most Mac supporters have for their systems and machines and the thought that they’re absolutely impervious to any malicious activity or problems with crashing. I do enjoy seeing news about a chink in Mac’s armor, shiny and white as it is.
in this case, though, that chink is users. The virus wasn’t spread, it was installed by users who had downloaded hacked copies of software from bit torrents and such. The problem with gaining market share is you bring the lazy users as well as the good ones.
For the record, in my Windows days, I had zero problems with viruses and only minimal problems with new spyware and such. The user of any platform is always the biggest security risk, no matter the operating system.
You’re absolutely right Chris. The ultimate weakness in just about any security setup or situation is the end-user. This is proven true from so many hackers/crackers that have stated their easiest point of entry is the social aspect of security and simply working with people to work around any obstacles of systems. I’m also like you, I haven’t had a real problem with viruses or malware on my Windows machine in years.