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For Safe Porn Viewing, Apple Recommends QuickTime 7

by John Paczkowski
Posted on November 2, 2007 at 11:53 AM PT

Print Post to Twitter

Conventional wisdom and Apple spin have long held Macs to be more reliable and more secure than PCs. But after reports of installation bugs, along with data loss and other problems in Mac OS X Leopard, some are beginning to ask: how much more reliable? How much more secure? Especially now that Apple has confirmed that OSX.RSPlug.A, a malicious new Trojan found on several pornography Web sites, can indeed compromise Macs running Mac OS X.

“We’ve been made aware that a small number of Web sites attempt to trick Mac OS X users to install malicious software on their Macs,” said Apple spokeswoman Lynn Fox. “Apple has a great track record for keeping Mac OS X users secure, and as always, we encourage people to install software only from trusted sources.”

And be sure to stay away from porn sites that require you to install software to view them.

So is OSX.RSPlug.A an anomaly or a harbinger of things to come? Security researcher Gadi Evron says it’s the latter. “Apple’s day has finally come, and Apple users are going to get hit hard,” Evron told Wired. “OS X is the new Windows 98. … It’s Mac season. The next two years will be interesting.”

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  • I have to wonder if security experts who proclaim OSX is the new Windows 98 have something to sell Mac users.
  • Sounds like these security guys are a little insecure.
  • Yeah, one trojan that requires the user to type in an administrator's password to see Brittany Spears nekkid is a harbinger of the downfall of Macs.

    Please, I thought this site was a bit more savvy when it came to Microsoft astroturfers taking every opportunity to slam OS X.

    Now iet's see. One single trojan and no viruses. And it's a trojan that requires a computer user to install. Compared to 144,000+ viruses and trojans, many of which need no help to compromise Windows

    Yeah, Macs are no more secure than Windows.

    Riiiiiiight.

    Mac users do need to be alert. But this is far from the first time such a ludicrous claim, such as OSX being the new Windows 98, has been foisted on the non-savvy public.
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About John

John Paczkowski has been poking fun at the tech industry and the personalities that drive it since 1997. From 1999 to 2007, he wrote the award-winning tech news Web log Good Morning Silicon Valley for the San Jose Mercury News, Silicon Valley's daily newspaper. Read more »

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Here is a statement of my ethics and coverage policies. It is more than most of you want to know, but, in the age of suspicion of the media, I am laying it all out.

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