this post was submitted on 06 Aug 2023
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Because snake oil is not helping, or a working substitute.
Security is a process, not a solution.
Processes alone don't warn you when your browser gets exploited or when npm install/pip install/cargo install triggers a cryptolocker/credential stealer/cryptowallet stealer. And yes, you could containerise everything and separate everything in virtual machines and run QubesOS and whatever, but most people don't do that because that's a terrible pain in the ass.
Security is a process, and smart use of antivirus software is just one step of that process.
The problem with AV s/w in my experience, is that they do not work very well, and hinder the system’s functioning, because they provide duplicate behaviour of existing solutions and compete with them directly.
In one instance I discovered McAfee to disable write access to /etc/{passwd,shadow,group} effectively disabling a user to change their password. While SELinux will properly handle that by limiting processes, instead of creating a process that would make sure those files aren’t modified by anyone.
People need to understand Linux comes pre-equipped with all the necessary tools and bolts to protect their systems. They just don’t all live in the same GUI, because of the real complexity involved with malware…
Well put!
You might be legitimately annoyed by the amount of free antivirus software on Windows that don't offer good protection, on top of being filled with ads. But I don't agree that scanning for malicious files and preventing dangerous commands (regardless of how good the implementation is) can be labelled as snake oil.
But what are you protecting against, though? What exploit? What CVE? Where's the privilege escalation from the desktop? What application? What "Linux Virus" are you concerned about?
As Linux gets more popular, malware will target Linux, it's just a matter of time. So right now it's not a big problem, but hopefully Linux gets popular enough that it happens.
People say this all the time and it's never been true.
You could say the same about macOS, but now that gets targeted, and Linux has about the same amount of reported userbase as macOS now. So if Linux continues to gain traction, I expect it to follow macOS in becoming a target for malware. Maybe it'll take longer because of the fragmentation, but I think we'll get there.
what mac virus is that?
Take your pick.
Here's one example of a privilege escalation
https://security.berkeley.edu/news/macos-ipados-and-ios-local-privilege-escalation-vulnerability-cve-2021-30807
And here's a little more detail about it, complete with links:
https://www.offsec.com/offsec/macos-preferences-priv-escalation/
This is probably also a zero day because Apple acknowledged that it was in use in the wild at the time (first link).
Not all. HVNC, for example, doesn't require anything by the user and with clever use, an attacker could get just add much value from it as with a privilege escalation bug.
Also XCSSET Updated used a zero day in Safari.
These attacks are still a lot less common vs Windows because the attack surface is much smaller, but it's foolhardy to think macOS is immune in some way.
Rarely do attacks use just one strategy, usually they bundle malware with a zero day of some sort. Since macOS has a small user base, look less at the impact and more at the capabilities. All types of malware exist for macOS, so if it gets much larger adoption, we'll see more effort in packaging them together.
There's nothing to do against Zero Day's either since by definition they are not known. So again, your antivirus does nothing. So again, the adage that more eyes = more exploits is just not based on anything but MS apologists pulling shit out of their asses to feel better about using such a horrible piece of trash software.
Even your last links privilege escalation requires physical access or the user to install a script.
I'm not saying macOS is immune. I'm saying its pointless to run antivirus on anything but Windows.
Sure, anti-virus won't prevent the zero day from being exploited, but it can prevent any malware packaged with it from executing/causing damage. The same goes for other strategies, like sandboxing, access control, etc, the more layers you have, the less likely an attack is to be successful.
On the other side, the less valuable your platform is to exploit, the less attention it'll have from malware authors. Most malware is looking to make a quick buck, and getting grandma to call a fake support line to fix a manufactured problem is the lion's share of malware. Some attempt to create a botnet (i.e. worms and Trojans), and others try to steal banking and other credentials (so cookie scraping, no need for privilege escalation, just code execution).
I'm just pointing out that zero days and privilege escalation has existed to show that macOS isn't immune. I'm sure there are plenty more, they just probably aren't used as much because the potential benefit isn't large enough yet. Why risk revealing your zero day when the profit potential is low? Sometimes it's more valuable to wait and sell to a more sophisticated attacker who will go after higher value targets like sitting politicians than to sell it on the open market to a scammer who goes after grandma.
The same goes for Linux. Zero day privilege escalation attacks certainly exist, if you follow the CVEs, you can see some of them getting discovered before they're explored. As the market expands, we'll see more exploits actually being used, which means there are probably even more that potential attackers are sitting on.