[Full-disclosure] mac trojan in-the-wild
Nick FitzGerald
nick at virus-l.demon.co.uk
Thu Nov 1 21:34:26 GMT 2007
Steven Block to Gadi Evron:
> You're an idiot.
>
> Save this as a script and run it, it will give you unlimited power:
>
> #!/bin/sh
> sudo rm -rf /
>
> Enter your password if you are prompted.
>
> Oh look, malware.
Were you looking in a mirror while writing that?
If you think there are not "roughly similar" proportions of Mac and
Windows users who will do more or less that, then I know who the idiot
is here and it's not Gadi...
Yes, today, the average level of clue among Mac users is probably a
shade higher than amongst Windows users, and yes in its default or
typical configurations Windows XP (and earlier) does make it a little
easier for the terminally clueless to shoot themselves in the feet, but
if you need an introduction to the basics of population statistics to
understand the flaw in your "argument" I'm surprised you managed to get
yourself subscribed to these lists in the first place.
...
Now, if you wish to discuss the wisdom of predicting that this specific
instance of Mac malware will be the real "sky is falling" moment, I
think we may agree about the advisability (or otherwise) of making such
predictions as loudly and publicly as Gadi did, but to dismiss this
kind of malware out of hand because of your ignorance of typical user
behaviour is less than clever.
Regards,
Nick FitzGerald
Full-Disclosure is hosted and sponsored by Secunia.