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Antivirus

This topic has 27 replies, 12 voices, and was last updated 22 July 2010 at 11:37 by Martin W.

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17 July 2010 at 17:26 #53493
Denise Hayes
Participant
@denisehayes35617
In the item titled Virus, Mr Clarke made a comment the 'mac users can feel smug' implying that MAC's do not get viruses. this is not the case, every machine is at risk. Do not be misled, hackers have been targeting MAC users, because they think they are imune

Apple's 10.6.4 operating system upgrade earlier this week silently updated the malware protection built into Mac OS X to protect against a backdoor Trojan horse that can allow hackers to gain remote control over your treasured iMac or MacBook.

Although there is no mention of it that we could find in Apple's release notes for Mac OS X 10.6.4, or the accompanying security bulletin, Apple has updated XProtect.plist – the rudimentary file that contains elementary signatures of a handful of Mac threats – to detect what they call HellRTS.
Key features

Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac – part of Sophos Endpoint Security and Data Protection – provides protection for both Intel-based and PowerPC-based Macintosh servers, desktops and laptops. It detects non-Mac viruses hidden on Mac computers and is easy to manage in both all-Mac and mixed environments.
Complete award-winning protection

Protect both Intel-based and PowerPC-based Macs with single install

Detect and clean-up Windows viruses hidden on Macs with award-winning virus protection

Automatically guard against unknown threats with unique Behavioral Genotype® Protection

Reduce system impact with high performance scanning performed on access, on demand and automatically at scheduled times

Easy to manage across mixed and all-Mac environments

Configure Mac protection centrally from the same console as Windows, Linux and UNIX protection

Get instant visibility of security status, enable automatic email alerts, set scheduled updating and define scanning policies centrally

Install anti-virus on all your Macs from a single Mac with Sophos Update Manager

Get the latest protection with small frequent updates from SophosLabs™ that are automatically distributed across your network
Edited By Katy Purvis on 01/06/2015 12:41:30
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17 July 2010 at 17:26 #37435
Denise Hayes
Participant
@denisehayes35617
Mis information
17 July 2010 at 18:36 #53494
Martin W
Participant
@martinw
Hi

While the above may be interesting surely this is NOT the forum for it. It looks like a straight plug for Sophos based antiviral software. Do any other contributors to this forum feel the same ?. Perhaps the moderator would like to comment as to the suitability of such a posting.

Regards

Martin
17 July 2010 at 19:25 #53496
_Paul_
Participant
@_paul_
Certainly does rather read more like an advert than a general posting.
17 July 2010 at 20:12 #53505
Ian Abbott
Participant
@ianabbott31222
I asked my Macs and they all said, “Yeah, it’s an advert, ignore it and it’ll go away.”

Ian
17 July 2010 at 20:36 #53508
JasonB
Moderator
@jasonb
Yes its a shame the same anti virus software wont stop SPAM

Jason
18 July 2010 at 01:36 #53515
GoCreate
Participant
@gocreate
This person is probably an affiliate seller, if you click on the links and eventually make a software purchase then the affiliate gets a commission. Affiliates use forums to look for opportunities to post a link that contains thier affilliate id with a seller. Usually they are much more subtle than this.

So my guess is this person could be trying to use members of this forum to earn some cash.

Nigel
18 July 2010 at 01:49 #53516
Martin W
Participant
@martinw
Hi

With the sentiment expressed so far by ‘serious’ members of this forum I expect the moderator to have this post removed and any others like it clipped in the bud, or am I mixing my metaphors ?

Whatever, I feel that there is no place for this type of unsolicited post in this forum.

Regards

Martin
18 July 2010 at 14:31 #53535
Terryd
Participant
@terryd72465
Where is the moderator? I haven’t heard or seen anything of them for ages!

Terry
18 July 2010 at 15:59 #53538
Martin W
Participant
@martinw
Hi

Perhaps he/they is/are being just moderately efficient and moderating the number of times the forum is reviewed. Just a moderate kind of reaction would be welcome .

Martin

(moderately frustrated )

Getting more frustrated as every time I try and close the brackets I get another smiley instead. Cured by deleting last smiley and inserting closing bracket.

Edited By Martin W on 18/07/2010 15:59:56

Edited By Martin W on 18/07/2010 16:01:40

Edited By Martin W on 18/07/2010 16:03:15
18 July 2010 at 19:45 #53541
Ian Abbott
Participant
@ianabbott31222
(XX) (YY)

No smileys, must be a Windows bug…….

Ian
18 July 2010 at 19:46 #53542
Ian Abbott
Participant
@ianabbott31222
Damn
18 July 2010 at 21:10 #53548
Martin W
Participant
@martinw
Ian

Annoying isn’t it!!! ??

Martin
18 July 2010 at 22:31 #53556
Sub Mandrel
Participant
@submandrel
Does look like a blatant plug to me! So why not pull it?

But did I hear Steve Jobs say “Apple isn’t perfect” the other day?

Neil W.

(Smugly i-phone less in a house of apple-addicts)
18 July 2010 at 23:35 #53560
Steve Garnett
Participant
@stevegarnett62550
We have sophos on one machine here – a laptop provided for a specific purpose, and it has Vista as an OS. And between the pair of them, it’s a right PITA.

But I have to tell you that this sort of thread gets posted on most forums all of the time. Half the time it’s bots doing it, and I have personally looked at all sorts of ways of stopping it, and most don’t work. Our best method yet has been to get all potential forum users to write a short essay about why they want to join the forum. Okay, I have to read a load of garbage, but I suspect that somebody like Denise Hayes might not have had quite such an easy time posting this if something similar was done here…

The other thing that you can do as a moderator which really hacks these posters off is to remove all of the links from their posts – that makes them effectively useless!
19 July 2010 at 14:41 #53594
Denise Hayes
Participant
@denisehayes35617
Im sorry you think this is spam!!!!

As my husband is an engineer, i know the importance of a virus free computer!! CAD does not work well with Virus. Because it uses a communication center, it has to go on the internet (NO I DO NOT WORK FOR AUTOCAD EITHER) and is open to hackers and trojans

I was trying to point other modellers in the right direction!!! We have found Sophos to be the best tested. Sorry i wasted my time!!!

And before i get comments from Steve like “somebody like Denise Hayes might not have had quite such an easy time posting this if something similar was done here…” please think that this SOMEONE was trying to help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

I am not sure what forum Modellers use when the get virus on there computers.!!!! certainly not this one!
19 July 2010 at 15:46 #53598
Martin W
Participant
@martinw
Denise.

I believe that if you had opened this thread with a short intro highlighting the problems you perceive as a threat to an operating system, be it PC or Mac, because your CAD programme, as may others, requires internet access then members would have been more receptive to the post

Not only that but the detailed “Key Features” looked to me and evidently others as a blatant advert for SOPHOS. I think that most forum users are aware of viral threats and will have anti-viral programmes running though it doesn’t hurt to occasionally highlight the risk especially if there appears to be complacency, see your comment re Mac Users, creeping in!

Personally my computer has a anti-virus programme that is updated every three hours (so they say), a full fire wall, spy-ware monitoring and removal, identity theft protection and is fully stealthed when connected to the web, i.e. none of the ports will respond to an enquiry so it is effectively not there. I check this fairly frequently by running a scan programme that attempts to get a response from the ports.

I think the reaction to your post while unfortunate shows the member’s interest in keeping this forum for what are primarily engineering topics and protecting it from what was perceived as an intrusion albeit in this case well meant.

I trust this helps explain the reaction to your post and that it was not an attack on you but rather done as a defence of the forum.

Hope this helps

Regards

Martin

Edited By Martin W on 19/07/2010 15:48:47
19 July 2010 at 17:12 #53601
Geoff Theasby
Participant
@geofftheasby
Hello all,

I am a recently appointed moderator, and I don’t read every thread every day. I don’t think an isolated comment on an editorial is anything to get excited about. If the habit becomes blatant, then I will act.

Regards

Geoff Theasby
19 July 2010 at 17:52 #53602
Steve Garnett
Participant
@stevegarnett62550
Posted by Denise Hayes on 19/07/2010 14:41:13:

Im sorry you think this is spam!!!!

I am not sure what forum Modellers use when the get virus on there computers.!!!! certainly not this one!

Well I’m sorry, Denise, but Martin’s quite correct in what he says. And, as you have pointed out, this is not the forum to go to when it comes to discussing viruses. So I’m afraid that by your own admission, it is spam. In other words, a thread with no contextual introduction about a subject not directly related to what the forum is about.

Oh, and here we run a lot of computers with the free version of AVG – which gets updated daily and does not interfere with the running of legitimate software – which Sophos most clearly can. And we don’t get viruses…
19 July 2010 at 20:12 #53607
Ian Abbott
Participant
@ianabbott31222
Now it’s getting interesting…. &gt

Ian
19 July 2010 at 21:35 #53613
Peter G. Shaw
Participant
@peterg-shaw75338
Just to answer Denise’s point about where to get help if needed.

There is a very good help board on the Motley Fool called “Help With this blasted Computer.” Provided one can access the internet by some means, the people on that board will do their damndest to get anyone out of trouble.

I have no connection with that board, but I have had help from them – not for any virus etc, but for other things, hence my offering this information.

Regards,

Peter G. Shaw
19 July 2010 at 21:50 #53615
Billy Mills
Participant
@billymills
Denise

The Mac operating system is Unix based. As such it is designed to be networked with all that that implies in terms of security and access levels. It is intrinsically very much more secure than windows which was never originally designed to be networked. Mac people are normally quite aware of their situation.

You can break into any system that has dumb users who logon as supervisors and open attatchments without thinking regardless of any AV products. Easy Peasy. Been there with a sysadmin hat on. Currently a windows machine without AV lasts around 30 seconds on b/band before being taken over by someone or other. Some current virii even install a rip off AV product to protect the taken-over machine from further infection. Most spam comes from taken over PC’s running windows.

You don’t have to connect CAD/CAM machines to the internet. They are best run without AV and always offline. AV is always an intrusive set of processes which always costs CPU cycles as well as needing constant updating. All of our updates are via another online machine, the updates go on a USB stick. Needless to say, if a PC controls a machine tool it should never have AV and never go online unless the people concerned really know their stuff and have a good H&S legal fund.

As an interesting comparison we have nine Linux PC’s running 24/7 without AV and on a very fast fixed IP connection. They have not crashed or been breached once in over 30 machine years.

On a more positive note, Hard drives last us around 3-4 years of 24/7 running at present so there are loads of Al castings waiting to be melted down and made into something more interesting. You do regular backups?

Alan.
19 July 2010 at 22:09 #53617
Terryd
Participant
@terryd72465
Sorry Denise,

but not all CAD programs need a ‘communication center’ (are you American with spelling like that?). I use several CAD programs including DeltaCad, AutoCAd and 3d parametric CAD systems, and have done for about 20 years (including teaching about CAD systems) and have never had to connect to such a ‘center’. I work quite happily offline or on an intranet.

Many if not most of us are quite computer literate as well as being Engineers rather than simply ‘modellers’, we understand the dangers of viruses and use protection systems including antivirus, anti malware and software firewalls (and a hardware firewall in my case), but thank you for your concern. By the way, I don’t think anyone accused you of working for AutoCad.

Best regards

Terry
20 July 2010 at 11:40 #53645
Martin W
Participant
@martinw
Hi All

Just done a little bit of digging on the name of the thread originator. Several came up but one in the Chester area stood out from the rest. Worked in an engineering company in the accounts and also as a telesales person in a suitably local IT company.

Terry you observation re spelling was evident here as well cause there was confusion between ‘there’ and ‘their’. Listing of interests has one entry of ‘Making tea’ with ‘Earl Gray’ singled out.

Makes you wonder don’t it, and yes that is a deliberate grammatical error!!!!

Won’t try smileys in brackets cause that’s another pita trying to close the brackets without generating more smileys.

Cheers

Martin
20 July 2010 at 21:30 #53659
Terryd
Participant
@terryd72465
Dear Moderator,

Normally, on most forums a slap on the wrist, i.e. a warning would be in order for the first offence, pulling a post comes later.

Terry
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