In the 8 years since Mac OS X was released, and 23 years since NeXT was introduced, and 38 years since Unix was introduced, the opportunity to exploit vulnerabilities in elements of Mac OS X have presented themselves to Unix programmers.

And what do we have? No non-user induced viruses have affected any Mac running Mac OS X. And it isn’t because the Macs aren’t as popular as [Windows]. The foundation is pretty darn good.

By default, you can run a port scan on your Mac from any site on the internet, and you’ll find all your security holes to the net are blocked.

A remotely initiated attack is impossible.

Furthermore, if you enable Mac OS X’s built-in firewall, additional holes are blocked. It is in Apple menu -> System Preferences -> Sharing. Finally, unless you have some excuse to enable root account, the most common hole found on Windows is not going to affect Macs. The operating system core is secured by root only applications that no one can operate except the operating system itself on its own, and no one else can have access to them.

Sure some e-mails may initiate malicious scripts, but only if you let them have access to your administrator password. Furthermore, application executibles that run on Windows do not run on Macs without virtualization or emulation installed.

So really the only thing you have to fear is fear itself. Don’t open spam. Don’t open chain letters. Don’t forward chain letters. Don’t use Peer 2 Peer file sharing, as beta versions of the operating system with potential non-tested bugs can be lurking there, and you are giving other people access to your computer whom you don’t know.

As long as you follow those rules, your Mac will be safe.

Just realized I had to correct my prior post!

Great article, as was the article on the ‘Mac Troubleshooting Websites’ article. Keep up the great work!!

John

and now with this article — make that “over and over AND OVER” again — and the song remains the same…

Another informative read, thanks.

It’s important not to minimize the danger from social-engineering exploits (which would include phishing as a subset). Some phishing is getting pretty persuasive – you really have to think about what you’re reading before responding to anything that requests information of any kind.

And – if you have kids using your computer – be very careful indeed.

I’ve gone to the extreme of giving the kids their own machine, which is NEVER used for any financial transactions. If they pick up a keylogger the worst that can happen is they’ll hack the World of Warcraft account.

My prediction for the first massive Mac exploit? Some kind of social engineering lure that fools a lot of people and opens their machines to being taken over. Second on the list (but much more damaging) would be someone figures out how to pose as software update.

“I wonder how people fall for that silliness, but they do.”
Greed!

Thank you Gene, and thank you Gopher, for cutting through the immense fud pile regarding OS X security. I’ve been using OS X since the public beta and have never used antivirus software for any extended amount of time. It usually seemed to cause more problems than it solved. Even the old .Mac antivirus software was pulled by Apple. I’ve never had any security issues. Like you guys mentioned, just keep the firewall activated and don’t fall prey to scams.

I used to support a very large bank’s computer users. They all used XP, and I spent an inordinate amount of time cleaning out malware. And we also had the occasional Outlook attack, which was fun.

Windows users that I know just cannot fathom the fact that OS X doesn’t require them to waste time worrying about security issues, though it doesn’t stop me from proselytizing to them.

I do run antivirus software on my Parallels XP drive however.

In the 8 years since Mac OS X was released, and 23 years since NeXT was introduced, and 38 years since Unix was introduced, the opportunity to exploit vulnerabilities in elements of Mac OS X have presented themselves to Unix programmers.

And what do we have? No non-user induced viruses have affected any Mac running Mac OS X. And it isn’t because the Macs aren’t as popular as Mac OS X. The foundation is pretty darn good.

By default, you can run a port scan on your Mac from any site on the internet, and you’ll find all your security holes to the net are blocked. A remotely initiated attack is impossible. Furthermore, if you enable Mac OS X’s built-in firewall, additional holes are blocked. It is in Apple menu -> System Preferences -> Sharing. Finally, unless you have some excuse to enable root account, the most common hole found on Windows is not going to affect Macs. The operating system core is secured by root only applications that no one can operate except the operating system itself on its own, and no one else can have access to them.

Sure some e-mails may initiate malicious scripts, but only if you let them have access to your administrator password. Furthermore, application executibles that run on Windows do not run on Macs without virtualization or emulation installed.

So really the only thing you have to fear is fear itself. Don’t open spam. Don’t open chain letters. Don’t forward chain letters. Don’t use Peer 2 Peer file sharing, as beta versions of the operating system with potential non-tested bugs can be lurking there, and you are giving other people access to your computer whom you don’t know. As long as you follow those rules, your Mac will be safe.