I know you are not a advocate of any computer protection programs for the Mac. Did the Macdefender threat change your mind a little? Because to be honest if some of these people would have had an antivirus/mal ware/spam protection program, would this have been a good thing. Thanks again Gary for all the good shows, especially the last est on the Mac defender.
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Ed
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Advocate of protection software now?
Comments: 2 Responses to “Advocate of protection software now?”
Comments Closed.
No.
None of the anti-virus programs would have done anything (more) to protect you from the Mac Defender trojan than Snow Leopard already did when it first appeared. Then some started to trickle out additional protections, but then Apple did that as well in Snow Leopard.
So the whole thing kind of proved my point, which is why I re-hashed it in episode 561 (http://macmost.com/how-to-protect-your-mac-from-malware.html).
1. Keep your Mac up-to-date.
2. Only download from sites you trust.
3. Stay informed.
In the case of Mac Defender, number 3 was the key as the media was all over this. Staying informed was all you needed to do to keep safe. Then number 1 kicked in when Apple updated Snow Leopard. Number 2 also helped because even as Mac Defender forced a download, you should have recognized that it was from a source unknown and not installed it.
Agreed! These are Social Engineered Apps. The best defense against targets like this is a little common sense and to be vigilant. STOP and ask yourself before you click OK or put your password in! Get Applications from a trusted source like Mac App Store, MacUpdate or Bodega. CNET (once VersionTracker) is another. Again, always ask yourself.