Heads Up for Apple Owners

If you are an Apple person, here is a development you should be aware of.

* Mac OS X is the most vulnerable OS, claims security firm; Debate ensues

“According to a report by security firm GFI, Apple’s Mac OS X is the most vulnerable operating system, with the iOS platform coming in second. A debate over reporting nuances and merits of the report quickly followed.” Read more..

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Today’s quote: “Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.” ~ William Shakespeare

Copyright 2007-2015 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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A Warning For Apple Users

I have long been advising owners of computers – even Apple computers – to make sure they run an antivirus (any device that connects to the Internet needs an antivirus) and keep it up-to-date.  Also true: the outright *myth* that Apple is immune from viruses and hackers persists. Guess what I saw in my InfoSec headlines yesterday?

Attackers set sights on Mac OS X with Apple malware toolkit

“The growing success of Apple’s Mac OS, bolstered by iPhone sales and new iPad tablet users, has caught the attention of cybercriminals who are setting their sights on Apple users.

Danish IT-security firm, CSIS Security Group, has stumbled upon a new Apple crimeware toolkit targeting Mac OS X. Security researchers at the organization discovered the toolkit being sold in low numbers on several black hat hacking forums.” Read more..

Also: New MAC OS X scareware delivered through blackhat SEO

Researchers from Intego have intercepted a new scareware sample targeting the MAC OS X. Read more..

(Geek Speak Translation: A “malware toolkit” is a simple-to-use program that creates custom viruses, and takes advantage of known weaknesses. See, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker (computer_security). They are [typically] used by ‘hackers’ who aren’t really into computer programming, called “script kiddies”. “Blackhat SEO” refers to criminal manipulation of search results, so their ‘poison’ websites appear at or near the top.)

I know that my posting this will not do anything to dispel common perception; but for those of you who are Apple Mac owners, and want to prevent Identity Theft and to surf the web (more) safely, I re-recommend purchasing and installing Norton for Mac, or downloading ..

Today’s free download: Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac Home Edition

“Free antivirus that works simply and beautifully. Just like your Mac.

Download now

Overview: As Apple computers grow more popular than ever, they’re an increasingly-enticing target for hackers. And these hackers aren’t just mischief-makers — by targeting your computer or applications you use, these criminals are out to steal and profit from your valuable personal information. Don’t let them. Get free Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac today.”

Please! Let your Apple using friends and family know – Apple is in the hacker crosshairs now. (And also tell ’em “hacker” translates to “cyber criminal” these days.)

Bonus:

Copyright 2007-2011 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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A New Apple

Apple will be releasing their new operating system on Friday. It is OS X version 10.6 and it’s called “Snow Leopard”. Not too surprisingly, one can find many articles regarding this event online. Galen Gruman of InfoWorld’s piece, titled The 7 best features in Mac OS X Snow Leopard is a fairly typical example of them. His words are in quotes and italicized, and mine are not.

“..here are Snow Leopard’s most immediately beneficial new features and enhancements.”

1. ActiveSync and Exchange 2007 support
“Following in the footsteps of the iPhone, Snow Leopard makes these Microsoft technologies native to the OS. That means Apple’s e-mail, calendar, and contacts apps work just peachy with Exchange 2007 server, giving users the same capabilities as Microsoft Entourage but with the better-designed, less-memory-intensive apps — Mail, iCal, and Address Book — included in OS X.”
Neither I, nor anybody I know, has an Exchange Server 2007 box set up in their home. And no, I don’t think this “enhancement” is going to make Business stop using Windows workstations and replace them all with new Apple machines. (But, I could be wrong.)

2. Exposé integration in the Dock
“The Mac OS X Dock makes it easy to access applications, open documents, and common folders, a concept Windows 7 is stealing in its retooled taskbar. Open documents are even more easily accessed in Snow Leopard, thanks to the integration of Exposé. Now when you click and hold an app icon in the Dock, you get preview windows for each of its open documents, allowing you to switch easily among them or to close them, all without having to clutter your screen with document windows. I never cared much for Exposé in its traditional role (providing hot corners and shortcuts to open application windows), but I love the Dock-integrated Exposé functionality that Snow Leopard adds.”
While nice, I don’t think a computer user will find this a compelling reason to upgrade — Microsoft or Apple user. (And please note, it is he who makes theft accusations.)

3. Automatic location detection
“When you travel, it’s easy to get mixed up as to when your appointments are, since your computer is still in your “home” time zone, and you have to mentally calculate the current time when looking at the calendar or clock. Sure, you can change the time zone in the Date & Time system preference, but it’s easy to forget. So Snow Leopard changes the time zone for you automatically (if you set that as the default behavior), using Wi-Fi mapping to figure out where you are — you will need to be connected to a Wi-Fi access point or router. iCal can also be set to adjust the times to the current time zone automatically, so your calendar always reflects the current times.”
Ummm… really? Well shoot, let’s throw a parade! I cannot tell you how refreshing and welcome this news is — what with how depressing the headlines have been lately.

4. The new Preview is more like Adobe Reader
“I have nothing against Adobe Reader, but I love that Preview now can open multiple PDF documents, display their contents as contact sheets, and show thumbnails of pages in a sidebar for easy navigation. In other words, it works a lot like Adobe Reader. That’s one fewer app to launch — and since Preview loads much faster than Reader, I can get to my PDFs’ contents much faster now.”
Let’s just chalk this one up to the old Grasping At Straws Department. But this guy’s a pretty good writer…I can almost feel his excitement.

5. Movie and screencast recording
“Snow Leopard takes the formerly $35 QuickTime Pro and makes it a standard, free app in Mac OS X. That means you can record movies and — great for many marketing, education, and Web professionals — screencasts from your Mac with no additional software.”
Why is this #5? This one actually makes some sense (for some people) as the Snow Leopard upgrade costs $29*, six dollars less than this stand-alone. However, those who know me know I wouldn’t touch QuickTime with a bargeman’s pole.

6. Systemwide automatic text replacement
“Automatic text substitution as you type is nothing new; Microsoft Word has had it for more than a decade. But Snow Leopard lets you specify such substitutions via the Keyboard system preference, so you have a common set of substitutions available to all applications. Right now, only TextEdit, Mail, and various Apple apps use this common auto-text service, but if other software developers adopt it, you may finally get all your text-oriented apps to autocorrect the same way.”
Wow. Okay…

7. No more gesture segregation
“I have a late-2006 model MacBook Pro at home, and it’s frustrating that its gesture-capable trackpad supports only the first generation of touch gestures (one- and two-finger moves), not the second-generation three- and four-finger options. Snow Leopard fixes that, so gesture-capable trackpads now support all gestures, no matter what Mac model you have. (Of course, your Mac has to have a gesture-capable trackpad, so models before 2006 aren’t helped out by this update.)”
Hmmm. I manage to convey my thoughts pretty well with one-fingered gestures… And since I’m a Kallyfornyan, I sometimes offer up the two-fingered “peace” sign… But I can’t think of any three-fingered…

* Note: The $29 upgrade price is for Leopard users; if you have an older Mac OS X version, it’ll cost you $169 to upgrade. Also, 10.6 will only run on newer, Intel-based machines, and not the PowerPC architecture.

I have to disagree with Mr. Gruman’s choice of these 7 from all the improvements Apple has made to their OS; and from my comments my feeling that much of this (such as every tech site’s listing Exchange compatibility as #1 Neat New Thing) is media hype should be pretty clear. But, hey. He’s entitled to his choices, and it’s his job to write something..

Apple did do (IMHO) several things right; such as pricing it at $29. To see the full list of changes made in OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, see, http://www.apple.com/macosx/refinements/enhancements-refinements.html And then decide if an Upgrade is in your future.

Today’s free link: Snow Leopard upgrade: what’s in it for me?
This ZD/Net article has a neat chart which explains what new features will work on which Apple machines.

Copyright 2007-9 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

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Mac Printer Problem

The other day I received a phone call (at Aplus Computer Aid) from a man whose printer had suddenly stopped working. All the lights were on. The cable was plugged in. He hadn’t moved the printer or computer, changed any settings, or installed/uninstalled any software.
So he was puzzled.

So I had him try the usual Printer Troubleshooting Steps
* Was the printer getting power (plugged in)? Yes.
* Turn the printer off, and then turn it again. Resolved? No.
* Is the USB cable plugged in securely? Yes.
* Delete old print jobs. Resolved? No.
* Is the printer showing in System Profiler? No.
* Restart the computer. Resolved? No.

Hmmm… Now I was puzzled.
The fact that the printer wasn’t showing up at all in the Profiler meant that it was almost certainly not a software (driver) issue.. And all the lights on meant it (probably) wasn’t a power issue. So I kept coming back to the USB cable, and he kept telling me it was plugged in just fine, and that he hadn’t touched it.
So I told him to “humor me” and plug it in to a different USB port.

This resolved his problem.
It turns out that he had made a change recently. He had replaced his keyboard with a new wireless mouse and keyboard set.
Keyboard? What’s that got to do with a printer???

His printer’s USB cable had been firmly and securely plugged in — to the old keyboard. The one that he had unplugged to make room for the new wireless one. Apple likes to put convenient USB ports on their keyboards, and..
Normally, I run into this “it IS plugged in” with powerstrips. Is the powerstrip plugged in?

Today’s free link: Apple’s Support page for troubleshooting printer issues provides the step-by-step methods for resolving most printing errors. Those with driver issues (software) should look here.

Today’s free download: In sticking with my Mac theme today.. http://www.opensourcemac.org/ is a website dedicated to listing the best in free (Open Source) programs for your Mac. All kinds of categories, so whether you’re looking for an anonymizer or image editor, you’ll find something here.

Copyright 2007-9 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

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Questions From Apple Users*

Today I am going to answer a few questions submitted by readers, in the Q’s and their A’s format.

Q: Will the programs I have on my old Mac run on a new “Leopard” system?
A: There are enough differences in the new OS X 10.5 that some programs may need to be replaced with the latest versions that are “Leopard-compatible” (Norton AV often needs this, for example) to run at their best. The keyword is “may”: most programs will work just fine once you visit Apple Update.
Please note– if you intend to migrate your programs and data from an old machine to the new Leopard machine, make sure you have updated all the software (programs) on the old machine before initiating the migration. Leopard will/can refuse to accept programs that aren’t current.

Q: I am thinking about buying a new iMac and I was told Apple runs on Intel circuits now. Does this mean I would be vulnerable to viruses, worms and spyware like Windows? What security programs would I need?
A: While it is true that Apple runs on the same type of “circuits” as Windows PC’s now, it is not (generally) your hardware that is vulnerable to malware and hackers, but the lines of software “code” (programming) that make up your applications/programs.
Now to the second part of your question… The lines of code that make up the Mac operating system (the most recent being OSX 10.5 “Leopard”) are not currently being targeted by the bad guys.. simply because there’s too few machines running it (and the ones that are [generally] do not contain credit card number databases). However, some of the programs you would have on your Mac are being targeted for exploits– Adobe Reader, QuickTime (a media format/player) and the Safari browser, notably. (None of which you need, btw.)
And now the last part: as things stand, today, there have been worms distributed via P2P “file sharing”, rogue “cleaners”, and there’s now an “iBotnet” of infected Macs. This new trend will only increase as Apple’s marketshare grows. Mac users should not think themselves immune.

Today’s free link: There’s been some nifty new features added to Gmail, which has been getting some attention. The Official Gmail Blog has the details.

Today’s free download: I’m keeping with a Macintosh theme today, and so today’s app is for Apple users. I don’t want it said that I never think of you guys! Watch TV on your iMac with Miro, a C/Net Editor’s Choice. Description: “Democracy Player is a free and open source internet TV/video podcast application, with a beautiful, easy to use interface. You can subscribe to any Internet TV channel, including video podcasts, video RSS feeds, bittorrent feeds, and video blogs. A built-in Channel Guide lists hundreds of channels of all types, all free to subscribe to. Browse videos, download, and watch fullscreen– all in the same application.“

* Folks, please don’t write to tell me “Norton is evil”. Read the reviews for NIS 2008 [and NIS 2009]. It may open your eyes.

* Orig post 09/18/08

Copyright 2007-9 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

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Do You Need AV on a Mac?

I get asked that from time to time. But usually, I’m not asked, I’m told. “I don’t need all that *crud*. I’m on a Mac.”
Usually, but not always, there’s a certain tone the speaker adopts when uttering that Standard Line (read, “dogma”) that conveys a smug superiority.. but, hey, everyone’s entitled to a little.. uh, delusion or two in my book. Keeps life interesting.

Basis in fact: There are some reasons for this don’t-need-an-antivirus belief system. One is, Apple itself has promoted the idea. Another is, there were hardly any (and at some points in history, no, zero, zip, nada) viruses / trojans / worms / etc. written to exploit the Mac OS. And even now, they’re considered “rare”.

Cyber-criminals (aka “hackers”) knew that less than 5% of computers were Macs, and essentially none of the “pots of gold” (database servers) were running the Mac OS.. so why write a attack program? (Apple products have been proven quite “hackable” – iTunes, QuickTime, Safari actually rank quite high on the list. See, Firefox More Secure? Tops ‘Most Vulnerable’ List) Answer– There’s basically nothing to attack with it.

Then and now: But, that was before Vista; and, the “I’m a Mac” series of television commercials. Now, instead of approximately 1-in-20 PC’s being Macs, it’s more like 1-in-10. Now, the idea of a all-Mac botnet has some merit (and a true Mac fan will tell you, all the Windows PC’s have already been taken!). An all-Mac botnet wouldn’t be all that big.. but the new numbers mean it’d be big enough for some uses…

So, sure enough, some enterprising criminal wrote a backdoor worm and glued it to a copy of iWork ’09 and posted it to several of the torrent sites, knowing that Mac-using folks who don’t like paying for things would download and install it.
Voilà, we got us an all-Mac botnet.
[note: this has happened before, to Mac+LimeWire² users; see, Firms discover Trojan horse targeted at Mac OS X]

Someone has named this worm “iServices.A”, which is much more rational and.. nicer (ahem) than what I might have named it. This worm allows the hacker to do pretty much what he wants with the infected machine, which so far appears to be sending boatloads of spam to specific URL’s, in what is called a “denial of service” attack (the flood of messages overloads the server, and causes it to ‘crash’/shutdown)(see, Our Modern Nightmare – Zombie Attack)

Me? I have consistently advised installing an AV, no matter what platform/OS you’re running, just as I consistently advise making backup copies of your files, (yes, I have been accused of being a bit of a “belt-and-suspenders” man) for one very simple reason — what is the cost if you do, versus what is the (potential) cost if you don’t?
Plus.. it’s simple math: the more popular Macs get, the more they’ll be targeted.

Feel free to disagree, but you won’t get me to change my mind. My Tiger machine has antivirus onboard.. though I don’t know why I bothered, I never turn the thing on.

Today’s free link(s):
* Brian Krebs has an absolutely great article detailing this worm, and I leave it to him to make what may be the most important point on the subject–
“Leaving aside (hopefully) the question of whether Mac users need anti-virus, I’ve tried to impress upon readers the importance of avoiding risky behaviors online that could jeopardize the security of their systems. The reality is that installing programs downloaded from P2P networks is about the most insecure practice a computer user can engage in,¹ regardless of the operating system in use.

This is why I think it’s important to call out this Trojan. Yes, it infects Macs, and that’s something we don’t see very often. But it’s also a teachable moment to remind readers that no security software is going to protect the user who is intent on installing software that may be tainted with malware, as long as that user is willing to ignore any advice (or alerts) to the contrary.

I highly recommend you read the whole article, Pirated iWork Software Infects Macs With Trojan Horse. Once you do, I think you’ll understand why he’s on my Blogroll.

* Blogroll member Bill Mullins posted an article that takes a look at the P2P “phenomenon” that I also highly recommend, Peer to Peer File Sharing – Evaluate the Risks – Consider the Trade-Offs

* And this article is a very good answer to the question, Is Mac still the safer bet?

¹ emphasis, mine.
² A very popular BitTorrent-style peer-to-peer program.

* One last thought.. anyone care to guess what percentage of people’s machines that I look at in my “real job” have LimeWire installed?

Copyright 2007-9 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

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Mailbag: reader questions answered, Apple Edition

Today I am going to answer a few questions submitted by readers, in the Q’s and their A’s format.

Q: Will the programs I have on my old Mac run on a new “Leopard” system?
A: There are enough differences in the new OS X 10.5 that some programs may need to be replaced with the latest versions that are “Leopard-compatible” (Norton AV often needs this, for example) to run at their best. The keyword is “may”: most programs will work just fine once you visit Apple Update.
Please note— if you intend to migrate your programs and data from an old machine to the new Leopard machine, make sure you have updated all the software (programs) on the old machine before initiating the migration. Leopard will/can refuse to accept programs that aren’t current.

Q: I am thinking about buying a new iMac and I was told Apple runs on Intel circuits now. Does this mean I would be vulnerable to viruses, worms and spyware like Windows? What security programs would I need?
A: While it is true that Apple runs on the same type of “circuits” as Windows PC’s now, it is not your hardware that is vulnerable to malware and hackers, but the lines of software “code” (programming) that make up your applications/programs.
Now to the second part of your question… The lines of code that make up the Mac operating system (the most recent being OSX 10.5 “Leopard”) are not currently being targeted by the bad guys.. simply because there’s too few machines running it (and the ones that are do not contain credit card number databases). However, some of the programs you would have on your Mac are being targeted for exploits– QuickTime (a media format/player) and the Safari browser, notably. (Neither of which you need, btw.)
And now the last part: as things stand, today, if you are running a fully updated Leopard machine, and the firewall is on, you really don’t need a “protection program”. That statement may not be true this afternoon, or next week, or next month (for future readers, this was written 05/19/08 ) and so you may, for peace of mind, want to install the Norton Internet Security 2008 package*.

Today’s free link: I’m keeping with a Macintosh theme today, and so today’s app is for Apple users. I don’t want it said that I never think of you guys! Watch TV on your iMac with Miro, a C/Net Editor’s Choice. Description: “Democracy Player is a free and open source internet TV/video podcast application, with a beautiful, easy to use interface. You can subscribe to any Internet TV channel, including video podcasts, video RSS feeds, bittorrent feeds, and video blogs. A built-in Channel Guide lists hundreds of channels of all types, all free to subscribe to. Browse videos, download, and watch fullscreen– all in the same application.”

* Folks, please don’t write to tell me “Norton is evil”. Read the reviews for NIS 2008. It may open your eyes.

Copyright 2007-8 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

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