full-disclosure - Re: mac trojan in-the-wild

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Date: Fri, 02 Nov 2007 10:34:26 +1300
From: Nick FitzGerald <nick@...us-l.demon.co.uk>
To: full-disclosure@...ts.grok.org.uk, bugtraq@...urityfocus.com
Subject: Re: mac trojan in-the-wild

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

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