OSX Inqtana-B Virus?

I think your wrong there. Just about everyone who I
know that has switched to Mac considers security as a
purchasing factor.

Vulnerabilities are in the OS, not the hardware. OSX has been UNIX for several years now and you felt it was secure. Just because the same OS is running on an Intel chip doesn't make it anymore vulnerable! The difference has always been that Windows is an enormous, unwieldy program that has many security holes because they invite any hardware or software vendor to add extensions and drivers, etc. OSX much more sensibly written and has fewer holes. Don't be afraid of the Intel chip!

Richard, this is a rather wild guess here. He never explicitly said that he felt OS X less secure since the Intel switch, and although we may think that it is the reason, it is far from being certain.

An interesting thing about OSX/Leap.A (the other recent OS X malware) is that it isn't Universal, so it won't do as much harm on Intel Macs. Although it will run under Rosetta and do most of the nasty things it's been designed for, it will not spread via iChat ...

Edit : It appears that you have indeed misunderstood his post ...

Ummm I never said that. I think you misunderstand my post.

MacFixit is reporting that this is a Sophos problem, NOT a new virus. Their software is reporting false positives and screwing up machines in the process. The great AV software that is supposed to protect you is hosing you.

Let the FUD machines shift into overdrive!!!! The paranoid got what they deserved.

"I don't want one that slows down the computer to a crawl or cause OS issues."

Not possible. Nature of the beast. In my opinion AV software is much worse than the infection ever could be.

"Now that Macs are unsafe as a PC/Windows. Buyers don't really see the advantage of having a Mac anymore. "

Absolute, irrational, nonsense.

SuperSizeIt wrote:

"What Antivirus program should we all be using? "

See my "Detecting and avoiding malware and spyware" FAQ for my recommendations as well as a list of some recent Mac OS X security threats that have emerged, including Trojans, rootkits, and spyware.

Good luck!

😉 Dr. Smoke
Author: Troubleshooting Mac® OS X

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Dr. Smoke -
I followed your link. Why do you use Norton Antivirus over Intego Virus Barrier? I have read a lot of bad press about Norton. I'm at a point where I need to either upgrade my VirusBarrier product, or go back to Norton (which I used for years). Why is one better than the other? Thanks!
Bob

I preferred to choose Intego's VirusBarrier, but now that I think of it, although they claim to detect all Macintosh viruses, they only detect the most common Windows viruses (in order to prevent you from forwarding them to other people). Maybe Norton detects more Windows viruses as well ...

Hi, bobio.

1. You wrote:

"Why do you use Norton Antivirus over Intego Virus Barrier?"

I've been using NAV for years and like the product. Symantec is an established, public company with a long track record and extensive resources. Intego is private, their resources are unknown and unknowable: they do not publish financials, e.g. SEC filings, etc.

Functionally, they're relatively equivalent. This means other differences come into play: reliability, track record, design, service and support, cost, etc.

For example, looking at screen shots, I think the Intego interface is a bit too far out. NAV's interface is conventional, business-like, and more straightforward IMO.

I've been generally pleased with Symantec's service and support. I can't speak for Intego's as I've not used their product.

When considering mission-critical applications, such as anti-virus or backup and recovery solutions, working with larger, established firms — especially public companies — with long track records has certain advantages. For example, they're less likely to surprise you by going out of business suddenly.

2. You wrote:

"I have read a lot of bad press about Norton."

A good bit of that is undeserved, especially when it comes to NAV 10, which is the Tiger-compatible version. I recently engaged in a debate on this subject in this thread, so you can read some of my thoughts there in response to the usual FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt) spread about NAV and Symantec Norton products in general.

3. If you like Intego and are happy with it, you may want to stick with it. If you're dissatisfied, you may want to try something else, like NAV. Having used NAV, you may be eligible for upgrade pricing — depending on the last version you'd licensed — vs. buying a new license. One may be less expensive than the other for you if price is a factor.

Good luck!

😉 Dr. Smoke
Author: Troubleshooting Mac® OS X

So if Sophos gets you to think it's a usefull program but it actually does harm once its intalled, isn't that the very definition of a trojan? Sophos IS a trojan? For that matter doesn't that also apply to Windows?

Norton or Intego?

Sophos or ClamXav or, still, none?

Now that Macs are unsafe as a PC/Windows

Please, base your wild opinions on fact.

Matthew Whiting

Please check out the link SuperSizeIt provided. It is NOT about the Inqtana-B Virus, but about a serious bug in the OS that affects Safari & possibly Mail.app.

This bug allows certain files that are downloaded to execute immediately, without asking the user first. This feature of Safari is supposed to allow only "safe" files to do this, things like pictures & movies. Unfortunately, a simple change to zipped shell scripts causes Safari not to recognize them as potentially unsafe and bypasses the warning.

"Please check out the link SuperSizeIt provided. It is NOT about the Inqtana-B Virus, but about a serious bug in the OS that affects Safari & possibly Mail.app."

I have to take issue with that statement. It is not a bug in the OS but rather a bug in Safari and perhaps in Mail.app that has the potential to leave the OS vulnerable.

Not trying to downplay the seriousness of this issue as it could be very serious if someone should choose to exploit it. At this time no one has but you never know. I would certainly be very careful about what I download using Safari until this issue has been addressed.

Hi Dr. Smoke;

I have been following you support for Nav for some time. You always seem to say that it has never caused you any problems. I am curious about this after all of the users of NAV who are having problems with the "spacesucking" file taking up all of there disk space and users that report their mailbox or home directory gets locked by NAV.

Can you reply to these concerns?

Do you have some suggestions on what to do or not do so that you don't experience problems with NAV beyond using the current version of 10.1?

Thanks.

Allan

I believe that the "spacesuckingfile" was an issue with NAV 9, not NAV 10...