How malware gets installed in your PCs and Macs?
By Gina on June 23, 2011 | Security basics, security basics, computer security, trojan, malware, worm, viruses, PCs, Mac
Many people think that computers are infected by visiting websites or opening e-mails. Mac community believes that Windows are insecure by their nature. By their opinion with no support large numbers of computers are infected just by clicking on fraudulent links or visiting malicious websites.
Moreover, they also sincerely believe, but sadly incorrectly, that OS X is inherently secure and that they are safe if not doing stupid things. However, the reality is quite similar but also different as well. The majority of malware is installed by the victim, who is fooled by social engineering.
As you can see, not so long ago Mac Defender gang was able to convince many computer users to install a small program that then downloads and installs additional malware without any user interaction. And this only proves that not much time can pass till they will be able to crash at vulnerabilities in OS X.
Nowadays, not much viruses are actually independent and well heard and popular. These days security researches are interested in how malicious code works of malware family. The delivery mechanism is usually separate.
Firstly, some malware comes from drive-by downloads. When you visit misleading website it infects your system by a piece of script that enables malware to download itself automatically. If your computer is well protected with security software you may be calm not being the victim of malware infection.
Secondly, the majority of malware comes to PCs and Macs by convincing user to do the actual work. Bruce Hughes of AVG Technologies states: „Social engineering trumps a zero-day every time. Users are four times more likely to come into contact with social engineering tactics as opposed to a site serving up an exploit.“
In the Mac world, the viruses market has just begun to take off. These new opportunities for malware creators are endless, so, security researchers will have to fight it strong and effectively in the future.
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