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F-Secure Releases Anti-Virus For Mac, But Do You Need It? [Review}

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image: ShiStock/deviantart.com

As any fan-boy (myself included) will testify, Macs don’t get viruses – or rather, that’s what we used to say…

With the popularity of the Macintosh platform at the highest it’s ever been, we are no longer as immune to cyber attacks as we could once claim. Only last week the ill intentioned ‘Mac Defender’ virus raged chaos on Macs the world over. The question of Mac security has raised its head once again – and this time, we might actually need to pay attention…

Safari Users Targeted By New ‘MACDefender’ Malware Software on Mac OS X

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A new malware threat called ‘MACDefender’ is targeting Mac OS X users browsing the web using Apple’s Safari browser. The software automatically downloads a file through JavaScript, but users must first agree to install the software, making the potential threat a low risk to careful users.

The malicious software was highlighted on Monday by Intego – the company behind the VirusBarrier X6 antivirus software for Mac – after Apple Support Community users started reporting the threat. Intego say the software prompts users to download a compressed ZIP archive after clicking on a dodgy link in their search engines. The file is then decompressed and begins installing MACDefender on the system.

Could a Dodgy Advert Contain a Virus That Wipes Your iOS Device?

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According to several reports from various sources recently, it seems there could be a nasty ‘virus’ lurking in dodgy internet adverts that wipes your iOS device when you tap on them. Users searching for jailbreak and unlock methods on their devices are the ones currently at risk.

When performing a search for these hacks on an iOS device, false adverts are returned that claim to unlock your device for free. Tapping on them takes you to a webpage that shows an animation lasting 10 to 15 seconds, followed by a message that says: “DOWNLOAD UNLOCK 2 NOW FREE.” By this point the device is completely wiped of all your information.

Sophos Anti-Virus For Mac [Review]

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A few days ago, computer company Sophos released a free anti-virus application for OS X.

According to the experts at Sophos, your Mac is vulnerable to malware – it’s just that there isn’t very much of it around. Yet.

But as Macs and OS X get more popular, that might change. So Sophos thinks it’s time you protected your computer.

So what does Sophos Anti-Virus for OS X do, exactly?

Barbarians at the Gate

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Photo by MrHappy via flickr

For years, one of the more compelling arguments in the debate between PC and Mac users held that Macs are more secure. With hackers worldwide dreaming up viruses and Trojan horse programs designed to crash hard drives and compromise personal data, Microsoft and security software manufacturers struggled to keep PC users safe by constantly releasing software updates and security patches for Windows operating systems.

Mac users surfed happily along the Internet’s boundless realms, content in the knowledge that Apple’s tiny OS market share was little incentive for hackers and malicious social engineers. As the universe of Mac users continues to grow, however, that sense of security may begin to prove false.

Leopard Revives Data-Loss Bug From OS X 10.1

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Buying an Apple product on the first day it’s available is a recipe for disaster. This universal truth was reiterated today as Macintouch reported a nasty bug in Leopard where if you move a file to an external drive and then unplug the drive before it finishes copying, it will delete the file from the source and the destination drive.

In our test, we used Command-drag to move several large folders from a MacBook internal drive to an attached FireWire 800 external drive. While the folders were being moved, we disconnected the FireWire cable. The folders disappeared from both drives!

Yikes. Not an incredibly common flaw, but definitely easy enough to do that it should never show up in a shipping product — especially because it was present in OS X 10.1, and not inTiger. That’s a step in the wrong direction.

Thanks, Andrew!
Image via SadMac.org