Malware
Apple on Guard
18/06/10 15:56
From InformationWeek :
Now we all know that one shouldn’t be downloading software illegally, right? If one is not downloading software illegally then one shouldn’t normally be troubled by “Pinhead-B”; even so, it is great that Apple is being proactive.
But we were puzzled by this :
What is curious is that Cluely doesn’t understand Apple at all, and apparently has some axe to grind here. The reality is that Apple doesn’t have to tell its users; truly, most of the Apple user-base has never heard of “Pinhead-B”. And guess what? Apple and its users like things that way. Apple did the heavy lifting to protect its users - even (ahem) less than honest ones - from not only themselves, but a threat borne exclusively of illicit software.
Swift. Silent. Deadly. Threat eliminated with no muss or fuss. And that is why Apple is Apple.
“According to antivirus vendor Sophos, Apple this week, in an undocumented move, tweaked its OS X malware defenses.In particular, OS X 10.6.4 now provides better protection against a Trojan application called HellRTS, aka Pinhead-B, which has been turning up in fake iPhoto software being circulated by attackers.”
Now we all know that one shouldn’t be downloading software illegally, right? If one is not downloading software illegally then one shouldn’t normally be troubled by “Pinhead-B”; even so, it is great that Apple is being proactive.
But we were puzzled by this :
"But what's curious to me is why Apple didn't announce they were making this update in the release notes or security advisory that came with Mac OS X 10.6.4. It's almost as if they don't want to acknowledge that there could be a malware threat on Mac OS X."
What is curious is that Cluely doesn’t understand Apple at all, and apparently has some axe to grind here. The reality is that Apple doesn’t have to tell its users; truly, most of the Apple user-base has never heard of “Pinhead-B”. And guess what? Apple and its users like things that way. Apple did the heavy lifting to protect its users - even (ahem) less than honest ones - from not only themselves, but a threat borne exclusively of illicit software.
Swift. Silent. Deadly. Threat eliminated with no muss or fuss. And that is why Apple is Apple.
