[Leica] Leica] OT: A pox on all virus and malware writers

[spencer at aotera.org (Spencer Cheng)]

I was going to stay away from this but what the heck... :)

Firstly, Mac OS X is Unix-based so has a better basic security model  
than Windows because Unix has a better security model than Windows.  
Windows is terrible because it is derived from DOS which had no  
security model to speak of. Multics from which descended Unix, had  
even better security model. But the more secure your computer, the  
more inconvenient it will be to use.

Secondly, Mac users, including me, should not be complacent just  
because no malware is currently active as someone else said. The more  
popular the Mac becomes, the bigger the target. Do I run a virus  
scanner? No because I've turned on the builtin firewall, blocked most  
connections and disable the most popular attack vectors which is via  
the browser and email. I did ran one of the free virus detector for a  
year or 2 but it never found anything.

I've looked at the NSA guide to securing Mac OS X. Haven't done  
everything that is in the document because some of it would make my  
Mac inconvenient to use. I've also looked at the NSA-released security  
extension to Linux (SELinux). Implementing all of that would make  
software updates a pain.

So for me, it is a tradeoff between usability vs security. Balancing  
the 2 is never easy.

For Windows users, never, Never, NEVER, plug your PC directly into a  
broadband connection even if you have a software firewall. Did I  
mention never? :) Always use a properly configured dedicated hardware  
router/firewall between you and your broadband connection if at all  
possible. Even 10 years ago, a naked Windows PC plugged directly into  
a broadband connection lasted  about 30 seconds before it got  
contaminated. The situation has not gotten any better.

IMHO of course. :)

Regards,
Spencer

On Oct 13, 2009, at 15:16, Adam Bridge wrote:

> The really sad part is that during the Russia-Georgia war there was a
> cyber-war component in which the Russians recruited organized crime/ 
> malware
> operatives to infiltrate the Georgian (and surroundings) net. They did
> serious damage and may have succeeded in getting into financial
> institutions. A friend of ours who may or may not be with NSA  
> disappeared
> for a couple of months about that time and when he/she surfaced  
> shared the
> NSA guides for securing Macs (you can google it) with the comment that
> things are getting weaponized out there in a very ugly way.
> Suddenly I'm starting to take security even more seriously than I have
> before and feel overwhelmed by it all. I never respond to anything  
> related
> to financials and never go near Windows. Maybe Windows 7 will be  
> better.
>
> I'm still locking down Mac OS X 10.6. I don't think I'm too  
> paranoid, maybe
> not enough.