nospam
Mon, 22 May 2017
17:15:47 GMT in rec.photo.digital, wrote:

In article , Diesel
wrote:

That does *not* mean malware written specifically to take
advantage of mac users doesn't exist. infact, it does.

it does, but it's rare and relies on the user to do something
stupid. the exploit is not the mac, but the person using it.

Most malware relies on stupid users...With some notable
exceptions. And, it's not as rare as you seem to think. In fact,
it's on the rise. I've included some urls in this post, but a
simple search query for osx or mac malware would provide LOTS
more, if you actually wanted to educate yourself.

there are some theoretical exploits, but almost nothing in the
wild, certainly nowhere near that of windows.

While I agree with you that the malware issue number wise isn't
nearly as great as it is with Windows, I do disagree with you on the
idea that there's almost nothing in the wild. I've already provided
some urls describing some that are, infact, wild.

In the event you missed them, I've included some below:
https://arstechnica.com/security/201...d-for-2-years/
https://9to5mac.com/2016/07/06/backd...r-mac-malware/
http://blog.trendmicro.com/trendlabs...e-in-the-wild/
https://www.howtogeek.com/210589/mac...mic-has-begun/
https://www.welivesecurity.com/2016/...y-credentials/

Macs are by no means, as secure from Malware as you may have thought.


it's *really* hard to pwn a mac unless the user grants permission,
which is why the user is targeted.

Ironically, if Windows users forgo the use of admin accounts and use
a restricted one while doing most of their surfing, the same applies
for Windows. And, it certainly applies for linux/unix based OSes.

MS made a mistake initially by having normal users run with admin
rights, most of the time, not even realizing they were. This isn't
the fault of the OS itself, it's the fault of improper security
policies and ignorance on the part of the user. The user is almost
always the weakest link in terms of security.


Hospitals don't routinely use Macs.

yes they do, as well as a significant number of ios devices.

In which country? The ones I've seen in the states are PC Based.
Not Mac. The VA in Johnson City, TN is PC based. Not mac.

Do you have specific hospitals that are mac and not PC based?

hospitals use macs, windows, linux, ios and android, depending on
the task.

That's a bit of a vague answer to my question.

The market share of Mac for a desktop is actually quite small. To
the point where it's still a 'niche' market.
https://www.netmarketshare.com/opera...10&qpcustomd=0


the days of companies being a slave to one platform are *long*
gone, which is a very, very good thing.

While I don't disagree with you on the face of it, I've seen little
evidence locally supporting the idea you present. I make it a point
to checkout the computer system the dr, nurse, receptionist is using
anytime I have to visit a hospital or drs office, mostly when I'm
playing taxi service for a friend or relative. I haven't run across
many macs, but, I've run across all kinds of PCs running various
flavors of Windows.

Again, Windows (mostly Windows 7, despite Windows 10 being in
existance for sometime now) with a single specific MAC os following
a ways behind, and Linux being slightly behind that. As for the
older MAC OSX versions, they are practically non existant.

https://www.netmarketshare.com/opera...10&qpcustomd=0

no one platform can do everything, nor should it.

That depends on what you mean by everything. But, I think we're
beginning to split hairs at this point, and, I see no reason to do
that.

Macs used to have the schools in the US on essential lockdown,
but, that's changed too. Now adays, kids are sent home with
Windows based laptops on lease from the school, typically
budget Dells (in this area)

nope. schools have mostly moved to chromebooks. there are also
a lot of ipads in use too.

Depends on what state/city you live in. As I said, in this area,
they are coming home with Dells, not macs.

for your particular city, it might be dell, but overall,
chromebooks have the lead and growing.

County rather, and, it's not the only one here.

As for the schools doing the chromebook thing:

https://www.eff.org/press/releases/g...y-tracks-stude
nts-internet- browsing-eff-says-complaint-federal-trade
https://www.eff.org/wp/school-issued...tudent-privacy

maybe so, but schools are still buying chromebooks, and the first
one is not specific to chromebooks.

Some schools are investing in the chromebooks, aka, wannabe laptops.
However, the majority of them are keeping in line with what the kid
is most likely going to be using at home and at work, if the kid has
a summer/after school job. That being, Windows. Not mac. Familiarity
with Linux is being taught in various schools now, though.


chromebooks are very well suited for schools for all sorts of
reasons.

It depends on the school and their IT cash flow situation. Poor
schools are more likely to opt for them.

linux on the desktop is such a tiny market share that it can be
ignored, which is what most software and hardware developers do.

You're misinformed. Linux has a fair share of software and hardware
developers supporting it, with more coming every day. You can even
buy various linux distro friendly mainboards that clearly advertise
they're linux friendly. Asus is one such maker. And, they aren't
small time.

it's so low that it's almost a round-off error, and its userbase
does not like to pay for anything either.

That's not true either. Some recent studies have indicated that
linux users are not only more likely to pay for commercial software
they'll use that runs on linux, but, they'll also pay a little more
than the equ Windows user would.

linux is suited for servers or embedded devices, not the desktop.

I would have to disagree with you. Nearly all the computers on this
network are running linux distros native. This is the only one that
actually runs a flavor of Windows native. And, I'm not alone. Many
of us are using linux these days.

You seem to grossly underestimate the knowledge I have on the
subject of Malware. I provided some links to some virus families
I wrote, personally. I also included the fact I was recruited to
work for a company known as Malwarebytes as an expert Malware
Researcher. I processed lots! of live, binary 0day, samples on a
weekly basis for them.

you grossly underestimate the knowledge i have about macintosh,
ios and apple itself. i've been writing mac apps since the mac
came out and ios apps for the past decade.

I'm not a mac fanboy, myself. But, I do have some experience writing
on the original macintosh with the built in crt. Prior to that, I
have experience writing on the Apple II family computers even going
so far as to do robotics with them, in the 2nd grade.

That was ages ago though. I had a choice when I moved beyond my
coco3 to go mac or PC, and, I chose PC. With that said, while I
don't doubt your knowledge concerning mac is mostly superior to my
own, I'm not foolish enough to think that malware doesn't affect mac
now. It most certainly does, and a considerable amount and growing
is infact, in the wild.

According to this website:
https://www.netmarketshare.com/opera...10&qpcustomd=0

Mac OSX 10.12 makes up for approx 3.21% of the desktop market share,
where as Linux makes up for 2.09%. Windows 7 oth, makes up for 48.5%
of the desktop market. followed by Windows 10 which makes up for
26.28%

Prior versions of Mac OSX are so small, that Linux and Windows 8
surpasses them by a considerable margin.


--
I would like to apologize for not having offended you yet.
Please be patient. I will get to you shortly.