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Are we still pushing the myth that anti-malware on Mac isn't necessary?
by tokyobreakfast 8mo ago
Are we still pushing the myth that anti-malware on Mac isn't necessary?
- CharlesW 8mo agoNo, that narrative died around 2010. The existence of malware targeting Macs has driven many macOS security improvements since, many of which are taken personally by HN readers.
- GeekyBear 8mo agoHow does antivirus software protect users who paste malicious commands they find online into the terminal?
- quamserena 8mo agoBy scanning downloaded binaries for known viruses?
- GeekyBear 8mo agoA text command pasted into the terminal isn't a binary. Convincing a Linux user to paste rm -rf / into the terminal is not malware. It's social engineering. Scanning binaries for known malware is already built into the OS.
- sithadmin 8mo agoThe article specifically mentions that the methodology here is to trick users into running an obfuscated CLI command…that downloads and runs a binary
- GeekyBear 8mo agoTerminal commands have the ability to do dangerous things, like deleting all the user's files. In this case, the user is warned that the command wants to do something dangerous and must manually allow or deny the action.
- wpm 8mo agoEndpoint security software on the Mac, if it's worth the hit to system resources that is, inspect every call to exec and fork that occur in the kernel and also inspect those for known attack vectors, malicious scripts, etc. The one I have installed on my work Mac will kill reverse shell attempts before they are run. Will stop keychain attacks. Infostealing (as they can also get every file system op as they are happening in the kernel). Gatekeeper and Xprotect are good, but there's only so much they can do.
- sciencejerk 8mo agoWhich do you use/recommend?
- tokyobreakfast 8mo ago> Scanning binaries for known malware is already built into the OS. Clearly it isn't. XProtect is a joke. It's 2004-era ClamAV level of protection.
- jeroenhd 8mo agoAntivirus programs will run on PowerShell scripts, VBScript files, JScript files, and all other kinds of automation on Windows. The screenshots from the article clearly show a permission prompt for a program. Whether that's a binary or a shell script or something else doesn't matter, the infection stage should've been caught by anti malware rather than permission prompts. Windows Defender does this already. If Apple's AV can't catch this, I think they may be relying on their DRM-as-a-security-measure (signatures, notarisation, etc.) a bit too much.
- jtbayly 8mo agoI support quite a few Mac users and never recommend it myself. Also own a couple Mac’s and don’t use it. I do occasionally use an app to clean somebody’s Mac of an irritating browser search hijack. I’ve never seen anything else. Why should I change my mind?
- socalgal2 8mo ago[flagged]
- JumpCrisscross 8mo ago> sounds an awful lot like "I've been this club many times and I was never raped" or "I've walked down that alley many times and I've never been mugged" I have been to many clubs many times and never suffered violence. I’ve also walked down alleys without concern. I did them in safe places where that wasn’t a material concern. Windows is Detroit. MacOS is Palo Alto. What’s good practice in one is wasteful or dangerous for the other.
- copilot_king_2 8mo ago[dead]
- learingsci 8mo agoDisgusting.
- kasey_junk 8mo agoThe incidence of rape is lower in Detroit than Palo Alto. Are you sure that’s the analogy you want to make?
- bigyabai 8mo agoThis is up there with some of the wildest, most tone-deaf comments I've read on this website.
- LoganDark 8mo agoXProtect (Apple's built-in antimalware) is usually all you need, as long as you're at least somewhat savvy (and sometimes even if you aren't). I believe installing any additional antimalware on a Mac is a waste of resources.
- sneak 8mo agoIt is necessary. That’s why Apple ships a free invisible one bundled into the OS that you never have to think about, see, or update.
- boston_clone 8mo agoa docs entry point - https://support.apple.com/en-mide/guide/security/sec469d47bd8/web https://support.apple.com/en-mide/guide/security/sec469d47bd...
- blackqueeriroh 8mo agoWhat anti-malware would have stopped this, exactly?
- kalleboo 8mo agoIt seems most anti-malware is the equivalent of the TSA - security theatre that wastes your time and attention, catching plenty of water bottles but not the real stuff.
- blackoil 8mo agoAs of today you don't need to install one on Windows also. Both OS have inbuilt s/w for this purpose.
- eviks 8mo agoNo, we're using the built-in mac anti-malware app