Nickname: Harry Allen

Review: Well, with only %5 of the PC's used in the US, it's probably not worth Symantec time to pay a hacker to create a MAC virus. Now, if only Apple come down of the price and make it more TECH friendly, Bill Gates could be in trouble.

Date reviewed: Feb 2, 2007 5:54 PM

Nickname: Mark

Review: Well, this malware threat that Arik describes sounds like the kind of viruses that used to spread around on 16-bit systems many years ago. Yes, they spread around, but were harmless. The only quibble I have is with the article's ending. Macs historically suffered less from security threats over the decades. Hardly. One of my first experiences with computer viruses was on a Mac, back around 1990. Back then viruses spread on floppy disks. Best I could tell they tended to be of the harmless variety, but man, there were a lot of them! I used a floppy of mine on a friend's Mac SE, then took it to another Mac with antivirus software on it, and lo and behold there were 10 of the suckers on my disk! No harm done, but it did scare me for a bit. Who knows what they could've done to my data.

Date reviewed: Feb 22, 2006 6:06 PM

Nickname: kb

Review: Here's a link for all OS X users who want to be even more "secure"...if that is possible. http://www.yale.edu/its/security/securing/OSX_sec.htm...

Date reviewed: Feb 22, 2006 8:53 AM

Nickname: Chip

Review: A piece of malware! One! Oh, my! Millions threatened by one malware in the five years or so OSX has existed! The sky is falling! Alert Microsoft, they may be next!

Date reviewed: Feb 22, 2006 6:12 AM

Nickname: BigTim

Review: Let's be clear here. The LeapA only can propagate through a LAN network with Bonjour enabled using iChat (not the default). In fact your only chance of being infected is by downloading and executing the file yourself. Even Symantecs count of users infected is 0-49. And a bluetooth hole fixed months ago? Neither one of these pieces of malware can replicate via the Internet. There has still been zero OSX vulnerabilities exploited to date.

Date reviewed: Feb 22, 2006 3:09 AM

Nickname: LG

Review: Can we get an actual headcount on the number of people who have this virus, as a percentage of the population? A couple of hundred Mac users? Out of how many million? Aren't we talking about a Trojan that has a 0.0001% penetration rate?

Date reviewed: Feb 22, 2006 1:01 AM

Nickname: OS11

Review: This is not a virus, OSX has zero virues and that will remain true for many years to come. This is simply a piece of "malware" that could harm any computer if the user approves it inside a chat program. On OSX that is highly unlikely. So it's another yawn. All the while, journalists mistakenly call it a virus when it is no such thing.

Date reviewed: Feb 21, 2006 11:22 PM

Nickname: DaveyG

Review: Actually, let's be clear here. The Leap A only can propagate through a LAN network with Bonjour enabled using iChat (not the default). In fact, your only chance of being infected is by downloading and executing the file yourself. Even Symantec's count of users infected is 0-49. And a Bluetooth hole fixed months ago? Neither one of these pieces of malware can replicate via the Internet. There have still been zero OSX vulnerabilities exploited to date. Period.

Date reviewed: Feb 21, 2006 10:56 PM

Nickname: Who

Review: Message to MacUser: Please note that the default user on an OS X system does not have root rights and is not defaulted to root. A person has to enable the root user in order to become root. Otherwise all that can be done are pseudo commands that still require the entry of an admin password.

Date reviewed: Feb 21, 2006 9:03 PM

Nickname: Arik Hesseldahl

Review: Zeke, no one willingly downloads a virus, trojan or any other malicious software to their computer, unless they are involved in the research and study of malicious software. Yes, you're correct that in this case the user would have to take an active role in deciding to download and install the software in question. That doesn't mean they necessarily know what they're really getting. It generally means they've been fooled to believe it's something else, hence the phrase "inadvertenly downloaded." I fail to see any basis for your comment about the article being malicious in any way.

Date reviewed: Feb 21, 2006 8:55 PM