ZDNet ’s Ed Bott is very , very , very , very , very , very , very , very , veryconcerned about Mac malware . Or thinks he ’s a wienerwurst with a bone . It ’s kind of knockout to tell which .
On Wednesday alone , Bott published two pieces and umpteen Tweets on the MacDefender Trojan . ( “ Trojan … ”snicker . ) The first military post was an interview with an AppleCare support representative who suppose Mac malware is“getting worse”and Apple does n’t want them to tell people how to get rid of it . What ’s worse is that , as Bott points out , Microsoft hasa toll - liberal 24/7 number for citizenry to call for help if their PCs are infected .
( The Macalope ’s not sure if anyone offer the same service for Linux . Seems like a lot of piece of work for Linus Torvalds and Cory Doctorow to manage on their own . Perhaps the open - informant unicorns help out . )
Of course , the problems are worse on Windows , so Microsoft require to go the extra mile . But the Macalope hat to see Windows substance abuser get more service than Mac users in any arena . That ’s just wrong .
So here ’s the story that , for some reason , Apple does n’t want to state you ! If you do run into this Trojan ( giggle ) in the wild — like , say , Alaska — you may get rid of it by :
Oh , no , wait , it’sa little less drastic than that .
Bott ’s second station wasa terrifying “ confirmation”of how this Trojan ( tee - hee ) is run rampant through the Mac community ground on … ( WAIIIIIIT FOOOOOOR IIIIIIIT ) … assembly post .
Yesterday I spent several hours going through discussions.apple.com and collecting requests for help from Mac drug user who have been affect by this issue . I found more than 200 freestanding discussion train of thought , many of them from the great unwashed who have been play a joke on into installing this software and are urgently trying to remove it .
Over 200 ? ! But , but … that mean maybe as many as 200 Mac users have been infected by this virus ! HOW CAN THEMACPOCALYPSEBE HERE WHENTHE ecstasy ISN’T presuppose TO COME UNTIL SATURDAY ? !
Bott also , presumptively sardonically , quoted Apple ’s PR copy on Twitter :
“ built - in defenses in Mac OS disco biscuit help keep you safe from viruses & malware w/o the hassle of constant alerts and sweeps”https://is.gd / CeYdAM
First of all , this is true . Theydo“help . ” Do they make Macs magically invulnerable ? No , they do not . But it does n’t say that . 2d of all , Microsoft uses almost the precise same verbiageand it ’s no less or more right on its site .
search , the Macalope has no dubiety that this is arealproblem , one that , duh , has increased in frequency since the attack was give up . That ’s , uh , kind of obvious given the law of cause and effect that order our reality .
That said , the Macalope does think Apple should be doing everything it can to help and educate users . He’slong been concernedthat the company was n’t serious enough about surety and has advocated for it to get in the lead of stuff like this .
John Gruber coyly suggeststhere ’s one way Apple could effectively halt OS X Trojans ( chuckle ) evermore : foreclose users from installing software that was n’t from the Mac App Store .
Ka - thunder . ( In more ways than one . )
Now , people ( and certain mythological beasts ) might not care that for a change of understanding , but Apple , unlike probably anyone else , could do it . As the Macalope ’s said , sometimes it occupy an brazen vision of the future .
