For the longest time, there hasn’t been much to worry about in the world of viruses when it comes to being a user of Apple computers. In my memory, there has been a few times that things have freaked out in the MacOS world, but that is nothing compared to the two plus years of tech support I did in the Windows world.
It’s only been a matter of time that Apple users would be targeted, but the media is flipping out because there are already attacks out there that can get to the new Intel Macs. However, most of these issues are being over hyped because it takes the user execute them onto their own machine.
During my I.T. days at the University of Iowa, you didn’t dare install a WindowsOS outside of a firewall. In fact, we were told by the head of the I.T. department of the entire campus to never do this. And doing this just once as an experiment, a fresh install of XP, Servive Pack One was compromised within minutes, and they shut off the port to my office at the main switch back in the I.T. building. The computer just had to be turned on and connected to the internet.
Right now, the media is already chomping on these viruses as this being the moment of truth for the MacOS. The fact of the matter is that users are the ones to blame. It’s like a hundred dollar bill attached to string. The virus writers put these things out there, fake you into doing something stupid, and your infected. Vulnerabilities exist, but everything is updated and patched for a reason.
Being someone who has worked in the I.T. industry, we love this because it keeps us in demand. It makes us grind our teeth, but keep the paychecks rolling. And don’t forget the users. I had a habitual offender that was hell bent on opening every single attachment that came into her email because she was so concerned that she would miss something. She never missed us because we were dealing with her machine about two to three times a month, if not more.
It’s simple. If you have any doubt about doing something on your computer that you either should or shouldn’t do, don’t do it! Read everything closely and do your homework. And if your still unsure, ask someone else who might know. You’re better off looking like a moron than actually being one, all because you were afraid or too macho to ask questions.
Sad this is so indoctrinated we now blame the user for running the virus accidently – it should not be this way – computers should not just be for clued in computer people but for the everyperson and it should not be a painfully careful process like the above.
Finally we do not “love” this in the I.T. industry, or at least I don’t, I’d rather shovel crap (literally) for a fraction of the pay. Without viruses we would no doubt have a hell of a lot more work due to the extra demand from users having such a wonderful online experience!
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CodeMonkey
I see what you are getting at. I’m in no way going to lambast a user for doing careless things. Accidents can and will happen. Virus writers create what they do with this in mind as well as the whole “keeping it simple” principle. They look to take advantage of a vulnerable computer as easy as possible.
“It said click here, so I did.”
This isn’t about keeping the computer world for the knowledgeable only. It’s break that barrier of, “trust me, I know what I’m doing.” You have to admit that creating cool things is much better than taken care of broken down issues. That’s time lost and extra demand as is. I’d rather take a few minutes to field a question and teach a user rather than spend days resurrecting an infected machine.
Yes well to be fair what you spoke about is the reality we are sadly faced with – and in that context absolutely correct. Mine is a utopian pipe dream now it seems (a Mac dream?).
It just makes me so angry 🙂
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CodeMonkey
🙁