Mac tec support.

[tbburg]

This is pretty funny. (Disclaimer: I'm typing this on a Mac Mini, MacOSv10.6.4)

Apparently there's malware of mac in the wild now. (would that be Itrojan? Iworm? Irus? )

The geniuses at the apple store are being trained on how to help customers with this new problem:
Link to article at gizmodo.com

You'd like to think that customer service is out to serve the customers (you), right? Not exactly! After an unusually broad spread of Mac Defender, a piece of OS X malware, Apple is telling customers they're on their own.

The order, straight from an internal memo to Apple's customer support reps, states the following "Not our problem, sucker" rules:

AppleCare does not provide support for removal of the malware. You should not confirm or deny whether the customer's Mac is infected or not.

Should not confirm or deny? Intentionally leaving a customer in the dark as to whether their computer has a virus seems pretty low. But is this next part lower? Hmm:

Do not attempt to remove or uninstall any malware software.
Do not send any escalations or contact Tier 2 for support about removing the software, or provide impact data.
Do not refer customers to the Apple Retail Store. The ARS does not provide any additional support for malware.

So even if a customer is sure their computer's infected, Apple wants nothing to do with these malware lepers. Keep 'em off the support lines, keep 'em out of the stores. This doesn't seem like a great precedent to set for malicious code landing on Macs.

On the one hand, Dell, HP, etc, aren't going out of their way to help clean infected PCs,... but,.. they didn't write the OS. Microsoft did.
Apple, on the other hand, should have a handle on software issues for their computers/phones/etc(you'd think, anyway)

 

[GrimmJeeper]

They're asking for it with this one. Now that word is out that apple won't help the users remove this kind of thing, it's telling the hackers and programmers out there that produce this kind of stuff it's open season on mac users - they won't be able to do anything to get rid of the problem once it gets ahold of their systems.

 

[EMSJEEP]

I feel unloved...

 

[AIbandit]

Apparently there's malware of mac in the wild now. (would that be Itrojan? Iworm? Irus? )

Lol

I find the most fault in "you should not confirm or deny " If you know why the hell not notify the customer? Their customers identity can be stolen simply because they want to withhold information.

As far as removal goes there's a market for that, There's software for that, and I don't see it as a responsibility to the company. The companies responsibility is to plug holes which they will continue to do.

 

[Ralph]

But Macs don't get viruses. lol

 

[ehall]

Mac users are like cats, they deserve everything that happens to them

 

[Ralph]

Macs are okay. They have their strengths and weaknesses just like any other machine.

 

[DrMoab]

Macs are okay. They have their strengths and weaknesses just like any other machine.

Very true. It's the die hard believer in Macs that I can't stand... and they do deserve everything that happens to them.

 

[Ralph]

Very true. It's the die hard believer in Macs that I can't stand... and they do deserve everything that happens to them.

I agree.

 

[tbburg]

Mac users are like cats, they deserve everything that happens to them

Well,... I own/use a mac,... Last Feb. an MJ came up for sale in Kingman on RaceDesert, but I missed it. Three months later I bought it in Phoenix for less then it was listed on RaceDesert and didn't have to transport it down from Kingman:


I suppose I deserve that though,.. after all, I do use a Mac.

Meow!

On a related note, IF Mac users are like cats, please, please, please can Halle Berry happen to me? (Really, I deserve it,..) :eeks1:

 

[iwannadie]

Yea, I am going to trust the linked source when the main focus of the page is a Windows phone banner. I then click their source link and see the title is Ed Bott's Microsoft Report...

Besides all that, it's not a virus. It is an application that people willingly install, it is not like any sort of windows virus that installs without the users knowledge. People are actively choosing "yes install this application". Apple can not be responsible for users choosing to install something, there has been no breach of security beyond user stupidity.

 

[xcm]

it's not a virus. It is an application that people willingly install,

you mean, like a trojan? while not 100% technically a 'virus', is often grouped together, same as worms and exploits.

security; what apple is not taking seriously. it took ms YEARS of getting their shit pwnt, release after release, to actually start taking shit seriously, but they have.
i understand being 'all about' a certain operating system, i understand linux freaks, or openbsd nerds, but apple people dont know shit about their own operating system, they think it's great because theyve been told it's great, which it really isnt.

 

[xcm]

LOL @ questioning gizmodo, didnt they break the iphone tracking scandal that had ALL OF THE ENTIRE mainstream media FLIPPING OUT? whats the matter? they dont dance to the exclusively apple crowd?

and further, the windows banner? you mean the ad banner up top? only mac user and other idiots who havent figured out adblocking software see that shit... get a better pc, and learn to configure it.

 

[tbburg]

If the article is accurate, the crappy thing about this is apple's refusal to even acknowledge the problem. Doesn't seem too hard to tell people,"it's got malicious software running on it. No, we don't have the tools to clean it off." Then give a recommendation for anti-virus software, blow out and re-install, whatever. To just say nothing kind of sucks, especially if they can/have identified the problem.

..,but apple people don't know shit about their own operating system, they think it's great because they've been told it's great, which it really isnt.

"Great", no. More like "Good", where-as MS probably ranks in the "Fair" to "Poor" (I don't think Steve Jobs has ever had to deal with a system crash during a product launch demo, where as Bill Gates,...)

Just a quick point here: One of the nice things about mac-os is: You don't NEED to know shit about the OS.

If you don't care about how/what the OS does, you don't have to find out. You plug the s**t in and use it. It usually doesn't randomly stop working, or never work to begin with. You don't have to dig for the proper settings, or drivers, or whatever.

If you WANT to dig in and play, you can(like all those people who hacked into their lap-tops when Apple switched to Intel chip sets so they could dual-boot mac-os and windows before the option was commercially available)

The few(Admittedly very few; and no, I'm not one of them)people who care to play with the OS do. The rest just use the damned thing to surf the web, listen to music, play video games and watch TV/movies. Almost everybody using the various Windows products are forced to learn the system because they have to.

'Proud of yourself for knowing the ins&outs of windows? Is it part of your job?
So you know all about the software that runs your TV set, right? Why not? Because it worked when you plugged it in, and that's all you care about. Would it piss you off if you had to plug the TV into a phone line and download updated/drivers etc, just to get a clear picture? Would you brag about it?
How about your car? Know how it works? What OS it runs? Would you be happy if you had to flush it every 3 months, or take it to the dealer to have the OS re-installed just to make it run?

The few people I've met who are truly happy screwing with their computers are usually Linux users. They go out of their way to install custom software, and seem to enjoy the challenge of making it work.

 

[tbburg]

OK, this is kind of funny. I got curious about iwannadie' post, and decided to see what the hel** he was talking about. 'Opened a window in Safari(I normally use Firefox with adblock and flashblock)and opened the page to check out the banner.

Safari crashed.

I guess xcm has a point.
'Took 5 tries to get the page to load. Man, that brings back memories!... of when I used to use a PC.
(never did see the banner he was talking about,...)

 

[Ralph]

If the article is accurate, the crappy thing about this is apple's refusal to even acknowledge the problem. Doesn't seem too hard to tell people,"it's got malicious software running on it. No, we don't have the tools to clean it off." Then give a recommendation for anti-virus software, blow out and re-install, whatever. To just say nothing kind of sucks, especially if they can/have identified the problem.
"Great", no. More like "Good", where-as MS probably ranks in the "Fair" to "Poor" (I don't think Steve Jobs has ever had to deal with a system crash during a product launch demo, where as Bill Gates,...)

Just a quick point here: One of the nice things about mac-os is: You don't NEED to know shit about the OS.

If you don't care about how/what the OS does, you don't have to find out. You plug the s**t in and use it. It usually doesn't randomly stop working, or never work to begin with. You don't have to dig for the proper settings, or drivers, or whatever.

If you WANT to dig in and play, you can(like all those people who hacked into their lap-tops when Apple switched to Intel chip sets so they could dual-boot mac-os and windows before the option was commercially available)

The few(Admittedly very few; and no, I'm not one of them)people who care to play with the OS do. The rest just use the damned thing to surf the web, listen to music, play video games and watch TV/movies. Almost everybody using the various Windows products are forced to learn the system because they have to.

'Proud of yourself for knowing the ins&outs of windows? Is it part of your job?
So you know all about the software that runs your TV set, right? Why not? Because it worked when you plugged it in, and that's all you care about. Would it piss you off if you had to plug the TV into a phone line and download updated/drivers etc, just to get a clear picture? Would you brag about it?
How about your car? Know how it works? What OS it runs? Would you be happy if you had to flush it every 3 months, or take it to the dealer to have the OS re-installed just to make it run?

The few people I've met who are truly happy screwing with their computers are usually Linux users. They go out of their way to install custom software, and seem to enjoy the challenge of making it work.

I think the point you make for those people who don't know and don't care to know about their OS is dead on. The problem is that Mac OS doesn't always work or play nice. When that happens you're pretty well stuck if you don't know what you are doing.