AVG developing antivirus app for Mac OS X

By Munir Kotadia, ZDNet Australia
Tuesday, December 26, 2006 11:30 AM

AVG, which is best known for its free Windows antivirus tool, is developing a version of its security application for Apple's OS X platform. However, the company is not yet sure if the product will make it out of the lab.

Speaking at a media luncheon in Sydney on Thursday afternoon, Larry Bridwell, global security strategist at parent firm Grisoft, revealed that the company's research and development teams have been looking at porting its antivirus application to OS X.

"We are in the process of looking at that and seeing what the benefits of that are--especially since we have done the [Linux] BSD version, which makes it a little bit easier to port to the Mac.

"It is in research and development right now to see if it is going to come out," said Bridwell.

Security experts have for some time been predicting that Apple's OS X platform will be targeted by the type of malware that is usually associated with Microsoft's Windows operating system. However, apart from a few proof-of-concept samples, OS X seems to have remained untouched.

Bridwell, who admits to using OS X and Linux at home, argued that there is no such thing as a secure operating system.

"If you are buying OS X to be totally secure you are in a dream world. There is no such thing--on the open market at least--as a secure operating system.

"There are operating systems that can be locked down to be more secure but as long as human beings use them and as long as humans are susceptible to social engineering and susceptible to making mistakes, those products will have vulnerabilities," he said.


WORTHWHILE?

0

0 votes
Blog

Talkback 1 comments

Enough all-ready! at this time there are no known viruses in the wild, all such claims so far have been BS. If there are no viruses how can you write security software for them? The mac journalistic community really looks stupid when they print this drivel, the companies that write the software appear to be dishonest.
Posted by anonymous on Wednesday, December 27 2006 04:31 AM


Tech Jobs Now!

Search for your ideal tech job:

Get network versatility with SSH tunneling and netcat

Open Source

Vincent Danen explains how to use netcat with SSH tunneling when you need to create a secure connection to a server from a remote location.


Read more »


 
Virtualize your way to cost savings
Build an infrastructure that is flexible, scalable, and economical, as you strive to become a truly agile business.

Red Hat Outlines Its Virtualization Strategy and Roadmap for 2009
» Watch the video




Where have all the bosses gone?

Blog thumbnail

I've had dreams of opening my own cafe or bistro...cum music store...cum music school. But, I soon gave up that dream when I realized it would require significant investment and..... by Eileen Yu

Read more »

Tags

  1. attack
  2. authentication and encryption
  3. blog
  4. data security
  5. e - mail
  6. hacking
  7. internet
  8. malware
  9. microsoft corp.
  10. network
  11. network security
  12. pc security
  13. researcher
  14. security
  15. security management
  16. software
  17. spam and phishing
  18. symantec corp.
  19. viruses and worms
  20. web