# Trojan in Torrented iWork09



## Andrew Pratt (Feb 16, 2007)

Interesting development on the virus front for OSX. 

BitTorrent copies of iWork '09 may contain nasty Trojan - The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)

It will be interesting to see how things like this evolve and how Apple reacts to it.


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## monokitty (Jan 26, 2002)

It's not worth feeling bad for these victims whom decided against, you know, purchasing a legal version, which wouldn't include a Trojan.


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## Andrew Pratt (Feb 16, 2007)

True...but it is a novel way of getting around the root password problem...somewhat via social engineering but IMO its just the begining of what's to come. As most Mac users don't use anti virus once you've broken past that barrier the machine is all theirs to as they wish.


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## ehMax (Feb 17, 2000)

Andrew Pratt said:


> once you've broken past that barrier the machine is all theirs to as they wish.


A very gross overstatement.

Until there is attempt manages to spread and cause maliciousness (Deletions of files, crippling of the system or unwanted things happening to your mac) to a single Mac system, its not even a virus. 

And yeah, really stupid as well in that you can download a legit version from Apple that needs a serial number.


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## MannyP Design (Jun 8, 2000)

ehMax said:


> A very gross overstatement.
> 
> Until there is attempt manages to spread and cause maliciousness (Deletions of files, crippling of the system or unwanted things happening to your mac) to a single Mac system, its not even a virus.
> 
> And yeah, really stupid as well in that you can *download a legit version from Apple that needs a serial number*.


I thought Apple removed it... or am I thinking of something else?


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## Andrew Pratt (Feb 16, 2007)

You're right that in this case they are targeting an app you could have obtained in a safer manner but I was more interested in the delivery mechanism.


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## [email protected] (Sep 24, 2007)

Well, if your stealing something I'm not sure how much you can complain...


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## monokitty (Jan 26, 2002)

MannyP Design said:


> I thought Apple removed it... or am I thinking of something else?


A purchased, full retail copy of iWork will install and can be used without a serial number. However, for those who downloaded and installed the trial version of iWork, and then purchased a retail copy of iWork later on, will find a serial number in the box to unlock the trial version to prevent trashing and reinstalling iWork all over again. Basically, to eliminate redundancy.  The serial number found in the iWork boxed copy is for iWork trial holders only.


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## FeXL (Jan 2, 2004)

[email protected] said:


> Well, if your stealing something I'm not sure how much you can complain...


Word.


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## Andrew Pratt (Feb 16, 2007)

> Well, if your stealing something I'm not sure how much you can complain...


Again though that's not the point. This could just as easily been a freeware app that was manipulated to include the trojan as this one was. As with most things computer related its not those in the know that have issues but the masses that simply don't know better (or don't care to know)


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## MrsMime (Sep 8, 2008)

Andrew Pratt said:


> Again though that's not the point. This could just as easily been a freeware app that was manipulated to include the trojan as this one was. As with most things computer related its not those in the know that have issues *but the masses that simply don't know better (or don't care to know)*


Exactly. You can never be too careful with this stuff.. Of all things, I'm actually surprised that the target would be iWork, although it does make sense. A lot of people would go for that.


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## used to be jwoodget (Aug 22, 2002)

Where is the serial number located? I couldn't find it min my box version of iWork 09 and so I deleted the trial version I'd downloaded (to see if the new version was worth it) and loaded up again from the DVD.



Lars said:


> A purchased, full retail copy of iWork will install and can be used without a serial number. However, for those who downloaded and installed the trial version of iWork, and then purchased a retail copy of iWork later on, will find a serial number in the box to unlock the trial version to prevent trashing and reinstalling iWork all over again. Basically, to eliminate redundancy.  The serial number found in the iWork boxed copy is for iWork trial holders only.


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## (( p g )) (Aug 17, 2002)

There isn't a serial number--or at least one that requires that you input something to activate the software--on the retail box version of iWork '09 (I can confirm this as mine arrived earlier this week via mail). It, well, just works.

As for the pirated version coming equipped with a trojan...well that's karma for you.


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## i-rui (Sep 13, 2006)

a bit of a tangent but i wish apple had an upgrade price for iwork (for those of us who bought previous versions). Even a savings of $20 or$30 would at least be some kind of amiable gesture.


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## RunTheWorldOnMac (Apr 23, 2006)

I feel no sympathy for someone who is essentially stealing a copy of iWork and get caught... heck, it would be awesome if Apple seeded the infected software


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## DrewNL (May 23, 2005)

Has anyone else here had skepticism cross their thoughts? I mean, I never heard of this company that discovered this trojan until today and they just happen to sell a mac anti-virus product.

Aside from that, as was noted before, you can download a trial straight from Apple and then the activation code is readily available on the internet. I just checked. So whomever got it from a torrent site is not only a thief, but a thief that doesn't do their research.


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## monokitty (Jan 26, 2002)

I stand corrected on the iWork serial number situation.

Link: iWork '09: Serial number not required for installation of retail boxes.

Those who buy iWork electronically versus buying a boxed version get a serial number emailed to them.


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## chas_m (Dec 2, 2007)

i-rui said:


> a bit of a tangent but i wish apple had an upgrade price for iwork (for those of us who bought previous versions). Even a savings of $20 or$30 would at least be some kind of amiable gesture.


They don't do this because iWork is so bargain-priced. Ditto iLife.

If you prefer, they could jack up the price to what it's really worth (say $129 or so) and charge you let's say $69 every year for the upgrade ... would that be better?


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## eMacMan (Nov 27, 2006)

chas_m said:


> They don't do this because iWork is so bargain-priced. Ditto iLife.
> 
> If you prefer, they could jack up the price to what it's really worth (say $129 or so) and charge you let's say $69 every year for the upgrade ... would that be better?


Good to know you are so flush that $2-300 a year to update system, iLife and iWork is no big deal. Personally I just wait around for one of the bleeding edge types to sell their year old versions at a price I can afford.  The closer to zero the better.beejacon


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## ShawnKing (Mar 21, 2005)

DrewNL said:


> I mean, I never heard of this company that discovered this trojan until today and they just happen to sell a mac anti-virus product.


Intego has been around for many, many years.


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## Maverick (Sep 18, 2007)

Just FYI, a trojan is not a virus.


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## broken_g3 (Jun 27, 2008)

Wasn't it just, um, yesterday that I said sh*t like this was going to start happening? And I believe everyone dismissed it by saying stuff like "No, the malware for Mac is socially engineered, you'd have to be an idiot to install it". Well, either we have a bunch of idiots on our hands or we have one goddamn smart way of sneaking in a trojan. Even though the people did not employ the genius strategy of downloading it from Apple and using a stolen serial to activate the trial, I'm leaning towards the latter. 

What if more people start using this method to hide Mac malware? Maybe a vulnerability fix is needed?


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## lumpy cheeseman (Aug 28, 2008)

i torrent software myself, and have never had a problem. then again, i dont use much oem type stuff either.

i use openoffice in place of the apple and ms alternatives, and there other examples beyond that.


before so easily condemning people that pirate software...bear in mind that there are some of us that can barely pay their bills each month (prepaid cell, child support, roomand board, etc) let alone cough up the kind of money apple wants for the hardware and software.

yes, i love using macs.....but goddess help me i'm not paying more than 200 for one.....speaking of which.....i need to get back to eyeballing that g4 1.25ghz emac on ebay for 140 shipped.....


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## rgray (Feb 15, 2005)

lumpy cheeseman said:


> before so easily condemning people that pirate software...bear in mind that there are some of us that can barely pay their bills each month (prepaid cell, child support, roomand board, etc) let alone cough up the kind of money apple wants for the hardware and software.


I must be missing something - this justifies piracy how?


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## lumpy cheeseman (Aug 28, 2008)

never said it justifies it. just gave a reason why some of us (like me) cant afford to shell out for software.

i would like nothing more than to pay for everything that i instead torrent. but i like to watch movies and play games and listen to music, and its rather hard to do that when you make only 600 a month, and your bills come to about.....600 a month... so its either eat or watch movies.....or just torrent it and do both.


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## shampoo (Dec 12, 2008)

[email protected] said:


> Well, if your stealing something I'm not sure how much you can complain...


 I can understand the sentiment of not feeling sympathetic towards people who steal software.

But these trojans are usually made in order to turn your computer into a Zombie, which more often then not means a Spambot. 

Which means, more spam for all of us, more congested networks, higher prices for everything network related and downwards.

My point being, we need to take the attitude that people should purchase legal copies or better yet, go with OSS alternatives. But if they do take that route, and get infected, we need to help these people get rid of this malware. Taking the attitude that they deserve it, doesn't really lend to this. 

J


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## ShawnKing (Mar 21, 2005)

lumpy cheeseman said:


> before so easily condemning people that pirate software...bear in mind that there are some of us that can barely pay their bills each month (prepaid cell, child support, roomand board, etc) let alone cough up the kind of money apple wants for the hardware and software.


If you can't afford it, you can't have it.

Just because you don't have the money to pay for it doesn't give you a reason or justification for taking it. I can't afford a Ferrari but I haven't gone down to the dealership and taken one.


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## lumpy cheeseman (Aug 28, 2008)

spoken like someone that has never lived in poverty....


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## shampoo (Dec 12, 2008)

lumpy cheeseman said:


> never said it justifies it. just gave a reason why some of us (like me) cant afford to shell out for software.
> 
> i would like nothing more than to pay for everything that i instead torrent. but i like to watch movies and play games and listen to music, and its rather hard to do that when you make only 600 a month, and your bills come to about.....600 a month... so its either eat or watch movies.....or just torrent it and do both.


 How did you afford your Mac ?

J


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## mac_geek (May 14, 2005)

lumpy cheeseman said:


> spoken like someone that has never lived in poverty....


Yo, lumpy - do you have high speed internet? Do you have cable? If so, you're not truly living in poverty.


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## ShawnKing (Mar 21, 2005)

lumpy cheeseman said:


> spoken like someone that has never lived in poverty....


It's a shame you don't have a clue what you're talking about. You don't know anything about me so you have no idea whether or not I've lived in poverty but you're willing to make asinine, pointless assumptions.

Try sticking to the subject at hand - *your* decision to not pay for things you want. It has nothing to do with whether or not *I* have lived "in poverty" and everything to do with decisions *you* make. Let's try to stay focused, shall we?


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## lumpy cheeseman (Aug 28, 2008)

i got lucky enough to get my mac in a trade. 

as for internet, i live in a community setting, where i pay room and board. one of the other rooms has internet and they let me leach off their wireless.


lately i've been selling everything i own just to make ends meet. things in this country have been going to hell quick, including the economy.



as for where you may or may not have been, obviously you are on a mac, and according to your sig, you are in a higher position in a company, a position that typically comes with good pay. i'm gonna take a bet that its more than 600usd a month.....


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## broken_g3 (Jun 27, 2008)

ShawnKing said:


> If you can't afford it, you can't have it.
> 
> Just because you don't have the money to pay for it doesn't give you a reason or justification for taking it. I can't afford a Ferrari but I haven't gone down to the dealership and taken one.


 But if he was never going to be able to buy it in the first place, then what is the loss to the software companies? How are they being hurt if someone is obtaining a copy of software that they had no way of paying for?

The Ferrari is a poor example because it is a tangible good. These cannot simply be copied and shared, so "stealing" one of those is actually something that will hurt the business that made it. If he was stealing disc copies from FutureShop, that would be a different story... remember, tangible good that had to be paid for to put into inventory. But a copy of iWork that would not have existed otherwise? Hmmmm...


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## rgray (Feb 15, 2005)

lumpy cheeseman said:


> things in this country have been going to hell quick, including the economy......


You list your occupation as


> mechanic, car audio, and computers


in the profile.

History and recent news reports show that people who fix stuff (mechanics, renovators, various repair types) do well in a declining economy... The theory being that people can't afford to replace so they repair. Things ought to be looking up for you.


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## lumpy cheeseman (Aug 28, 2008)

rgray said:


> You list your occupation as in the profile.
> 
> History and recent news reports show that people who fix stuff (mechanics, renovators, various repair types) do well in a declining economy... The theory being that people can't afford to replace so they repair. Things ought to be looking up for you.


the problem with that, is that the customers dont have the funds they used to, meaning their cars will go longer without service, meaning they dont come in as often. same with computers.


yes, i fix stuff. doesnt mean i work in a normal shop in the city. if you look at profile, you also see i'm on the coal of pa, meaning i'm in the mountains. in the mountains, there arent as many people.

i work with a guy at a shop that doesnt exist. what bit we get is word of mouth. we get just enough each month to _just_ pay the bills. we havent had money to play with since aug.


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## ShawnKing (Mar 21, 2005)

lumpy cheeseman said:


> as for where you may or may not have been, obviously you are on a mac, and according to your sig, you are in a higher position in a company, a position that typically comes with good pay. i'm gonna take a bet that its more than 600usd a month.....


And what difference does that make to the discussion I'm trying to have? None. So, let's get back to the original issue you brought up, shall we?


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## lumpy cheeseman (Aug 28, 2008)

its totally about the original issue.

going by your words, those of us that cant afford simple things like movies or music should live like monks?


sorry, but in the real world...not gonna happen.


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## ShawnKing (Mar 21, 2005)

broken_g3 said:


> But if he was never going to be able to buy it in the first place, then what is the loss to the software companies?


Zero. So? Are you saying that if a theft does no harm, then theft is OK?


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## ShawnKing (Mar 21, 2005)

lumpy cheeseman said:


> going by your words, those of us that cant afford simple things like movies or music should live like monks?


Yes. Do you think you have some kind of "right" to "movies or music"? Guess what - you don't.

Other people created that stuff and *they* have a right to get paid for their creations.

Justify it here or in your mind anyway you'd like but it's not gonna fly so you might as well leave it be.


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## lumpy cheeseman (Aug 28, 2008)

you've forgotten to consider one thing.

and that is why prices are high to begin with.

when a product (music, software, movies, etc) comes out, they already know that one way or another they are gonna sell X amount. they know what it costs, they know how much they need to sell each of the x amount for, all to break even. after so long, obviously they've paid the tooling/programming off, and the rest is manufacturing costs and profit. obviously once the tooling/programming is paid off, the remaining manufacturing of the rest is cents on the dollar (assuming media as opposed to hard goods like cars or computers). 

it costs a whopping 1.50 per dvd to produce, shrink wrap, pallet, and ship. maybe 3 dollars, when gas was higher and everything else. that 3 dollar item then sells to the retailer for prolly 5 each. so the company has made 2 dollars on the item. after that, the retailer then sells each copy for 19.99. thats a 14.99 profit. but lets say that 8 dollars of that goes to the employees of the store. you know, hourly wage, stocking, etc.

so your left with 7.99 of profit.

does any of that 17.99 go to the artists/actors/programmers? nope. its nothing but bank for the store.


so lets break it down. i download something for free, and the only money i havent spent is the actual 5 dollars that original manufacturer sells the items for. if the original seller was marketing the item for that 5 bucks, or even 6....hey, i might just scrounge up beer cans off the side of the road and buy direct.


instead, they go through retailers, who charge more than its worth, which is definately more than i can afford.

as such.... my apologies to the original guys....but i'm broke, and i'm not gonna live in silence with the same 3 cd's i bought 5 years ago.... i'd go postal...



edit: i should add....i've spent a lot of time in the manufacturing game. working at factories, distribution warehouses, etc. i've had plenty of time to learn how things work, how much they cost. i've had time to learn from drivers and warehouses where things come from and where they go. as such....i have a really deep insight into how much things really cost....as opposed to what we buy them for....

i've also spent time in the retail gig...so i can speak from that front as well.


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## ShawnKing (Mar 21, 2005)

lumpy cheeseman said:


> i've also spent time in the retail gig...so i can speak from that front as well.


And *none* of what you've written matters.

It doesn't mater whether something costs 50 cents to manufacture/create and the vendor charges $500 for it. That doesn't give you the right to steal it, simply because you think the price is "unfair" or "I can't afford it".


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## hayesk (Mar 5, 2000)

eMacMan said:


> Good to know you are so flush that $2-300 a year to update system, iLife and iWork is no big deal. Personally I just wait around for one of the bleeding edge types to sell their year old versions at a price I can afford.  The closer to zero the better.beejacon


Buying last year's version at a cheap price is a good plan. I can't stand those who try to rationalize stealing software with lame excuses "if I could afford to buy it, I would, but I can't, so stealing it is ok". Funny, those same people seem to find money for high end computers, internet, beer, take-out, etc.


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## hayesk (Mar 5, 2000)

Back on topic, this vector to install a trojan has always been around. Bottom line - don't install things from places you don't know. If you are downloading freeware, check the comments on versiontracker first. If software consists of only a single application, and the installer asks for an admin password - ask why first.


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## RISCHead (Jul 20, 2004)

hayesk said:


> Back on topic, this vector to install a trojan has always been around. Bottom line - don't install things from places you don't know. If you are downloading freeware, check the comments on versiontracker first. If software consists of only a single application, and the installer asks for an admin password - ask why first.


Agreed - I don't understand why this turns into a puritanical thread on legal software vs not - this exists on any untrusted software you allow onto your system (where trust is defined by the fact that the known source/originator of the software won't do anything malicious on your computer).

The rule of thumb is don't install untrusted software - doesn't matter what computing platform you're on - Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, AIX, Solaris, HP-UX or z/OS or whatever exotic flavour you use.

Untrusted software can directly or indirectly have unintended consequences - it matters little on the semantics of what is a virus or not at that stage.


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## ShawnKing (Mar 21, 2005)

RISCHead said:


> I don't understand why this turns into a puritanical thread on legal software vs not


Sorry - I thought it was clear.

It turned because a member, "lumpy cheeseman", claimed to have no problem stealing software because he was poor and somehow, he deserved it.

Hope that helps.


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## broken_g3 (Jun 27, 2008)

ShawnKing said:


> Zero. So? Are you saying that if a theft does no harm, then theft is OK?


 In this case, yes. I would not condone people to steal cars or paintings, but in this case the item in question is abstract, and would not have been sold or even come into existance otherwise. The pirates essentially created a *new* copy of the software, merely by asking a computer to copy over a neverending sequence of 1's and 0's. 

We can open a philosophical debate elsewhere in the forums on this. It seems like and interesting topic.


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## lumpy cheeseman (Aug 28, 2008)

funny, shawnking, never anywhere did i say nor imply that i "deserved" it.



i thank you kindly not to put words in my mouth.



but i'd be willing to bet that as a kid, you would tape songs off the radio to play back when you wanted. that is/was also known as pirating, and i'm sure you didnt have a problem then.


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## ShawnKing (Mar 21, 2005)

lumpy cheeseman said:


> but i'd be willing to bet that as a kid, you would tape songs off the radio to play back when you wanted. that is/was also known as pirating, and i'm sure you didnt have a problem then.


Once again, you don't know anything about me so you don't know what I did or didn't do as a kid.

And what difference does it make? *You're* not a kid any more. You (supposedly) know right from wrong now, even if you didn't as a kid. Yet, you still feel justified in taking things that don't belong to you and that you haven't/won't pay for.


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## RunTheWorldOnMac (Apr 23, 2006)

I don't see how anyone could really justify stealing software... whether you have money or not... 

I could perhaps justify a small child in a third world country stealing a bit of food to save his life but software is far from food...


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## lumpy cheeseman (Aug 28, 2008)

ShawnKing said:


> Once again, you don't know anything about me so you don't know what I did or didn't do as a kid.
> 
> And what difference does it make? *You're* not a kid any more. You (supposedly) know right from wrong now, even if you didn't as a kid. Yet, you still feel justified in taking things that don't belong to you and that you haven't/won't pay for.




what difference?

plain and simple, doesnt matter the age, ignorance of the law is no excuse. and thats a direct quote from local law enforcement. meaning that, even when you were taping radio as a kid, it was illegal, whether you knew it or not.

so going off that logic, because i know damn well that i, and most anyone else i've ever talked to, did stuff like that as a kid. and that too was pirating. 

did you ever tape a tv show so you wouldnt miss it? do you use a dvr now?

same principle. you are recording it, which is pirating it. doesnt matter if it was so you wouldnt miss it.

same principle still stands. 

and since a great many people tape a show, dvr a show, tivo a show, who are they to complain that i copy music i cant afford?


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## ShawnKing (Mar 21, 2005)

lumpy cheeseman said:


> plain and simple, doesnt matter the age, ignorance of the law is no excuse.


LOL So you're saying that a 8 year old child should know what the law? YOu do understand how ridiculous that sounds, don't you?


> did you ever tape a tv show so you wouldnt miss it? do you use a dvr now?
> 
> same principle.


No it's not - taping a TV show on your DVR is legal.


> and since a great many people tape a show, dvr a show, tivo a show, who are they to complain that i copy music i cant afford?


Again, if you cant afford it, you can't have it. It's not that difficult a concept.


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## lumpy cheeseman (Aug 28, 2008)

.


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## lumpy cheeseman (Aug 28, 2008)

ShawnKing said:


> LOL So you're saying that a 8 year old child should know what the law? YOu do understand how ridiculous that sounds, don't you?



yes, i'm well aware how redicoulous it sounds, yet it is what it is.

while a recording a tv show on an issued dvr might be "legal" it is by all means, form, and procedures, pirating.

it is a copying of a media that does not belong to you, whether its video, music, or pictures, tape, dvd, or tivo.



if you really wanna get technical, saving copies of pictures online without first asking the op of said item is also pirating.



so are you trying to tell me that from the time you were a child to now, you have not: taped radio or tv, save a pictured, copied a picture, tivo'd, dvr'd, copied a cd, copied a tape, or anything else i've mentioned above?


cause i find that really hard to believe.. unless of course you are amish...but your owning a computer, being on the internet, and (according to your sig) working for a company heavy in electrical devices tells my you arent.


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## ShawnKing (Mar 21, 2005)

lumpy cheeseman said:


> while a recording a tv show on an issued dvr might be "legal" it is by all means, form, and procedures, pirating.


(sigh) If something is "legal" it can't also be "pirating". They are mutually exclusive.


> so are you trying to tell me that from the time you were a child to now, you have not: taped radio or tv, save a pictured, copied a picture, tivo'd, dvr'd, copied a cd, copied a tape, or anything else i've mentioned above?


OK...for the third time - we are not talking about *my* actions. This whole discussion centers around *your* actions. Trying to deflect from that on to me simply isn't going to work.


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## lumpy cheeseman (Aug 28, 2008)

i've already admitted my actions while you continue the runaround.


you are the one deflecting by not answering questions. if you have nothing to hide, if you have truly never done any of the above ever in your life, then say so.


otherwise you are hiding behind a hypocritical attitude about the subject.


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## 9780 (Sep 14, 2006)

Well now apparently a torrented Photoshop CS4 has a trojan too... (gotta get the discussion back on track!)

Intego Security Alert - New Variant of Mac Trojan Horse iServices Found in Pirated Adobe Photoshop CS4


Patrix.


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## lumpy cheeseman (Aug 28, 2008)

fascinating....the first one was found by a company many have never heard of...and all of a sudden another one is found as well.....

i call bs.... if there are malicious lines or trojans, i would dare say they are the ones putting it out there...


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## ShawnKing (Mar 21, 2005)

lumpy cheeseman said:


> fascinating....the first one was found by a company many have never heard of...


If you haven't heard of Intego, you haven't been paying attention. They've been making Mac software for more than 10 years.


> i call bs.... if there are malicious lines or trojans, i would dare say they are the ones putting it out there...


And you'd be wrong. Not just wrong but stupidly wrong.

Do you really think a company would open itself up to that kind of lawsuit?

Virus detection software companies find this stuff because - surprise! - they are in the business of detecting viruses. It's what they do. No need to look for nefarious motives or conspiracy theories when the facts will do.


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## lumpy cheeseman (Aug 28, 2008)

congratulations on the continued deflection of questions asked to you.


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## MikeyMac (Jun 18, 2008)

Wow, grow up lumpy cheeseman and move on. You're wrong in the whole pirating sofware issue. If you don't have money to purchase the software, go download a copy of one of the many free applications out there. 

And the whole thought of Intego releasing the torrents with the trojan included is laughable. You need to do some more research before making absurd statments like that.

Mike


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## lumpy cheeseman (Aug 28, 2008)

i'm quite grown up thanks. i've even been working while posting.

whats laughable is that a man will neither confirm nor deny that he has never done any sort of pirating in his life when asked about it.

i've downloaded many free applications. there are however some applications that i've not found a free version of and torrented an OLD copy of, like ilife06, which btw, apple does not appear to sell any longer.

so by torrenting an OLD copy of software that is no longer sold (that i can find on the apple website), i havent screwed them of one red cent.

if i had the money, yes, i could have purchased a newer version, but said newer version isnt compatible with my older hardware.

as seen in other threads on here, i do have actual advice for others that have but to ask, so its not like i'm on here only to troll.


but since it seems to be upsetting so many fragile minds that are incapable of seeing the truth, i shall move on and no longer post in this thread.




p.s., my long post about the breakdown of how much things cost, was to show how little the original makers of the media in question actually get. when i do occasionally purchase music (like the few albums i purchased over the summer), i prefer to pay the artist directly (like i did in those cases). it was cheaper for me, and they got all of the money instead of much of it being diverted to a company of corporate greed (like walmart)


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## Andrew Pratt (Feb 16, 2007)

Guys can we please try and keep this on topic?


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## benmossm (Mar 10, 2008)

Well Mr. Lumpy Cheese, I was in your shoes with respect to not hearing of Intego before now, but I'm sure you've heard of Symantec (Norton Antivirus)

https://forums.symantec.com/t5/blogs/blogarticlepage/blog-id/malicious_code/article-id/231


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## (( p g )) (Aug 17, 2002)

Andrew Pratt said:


> Guys can we please try and keep this on topic?


Agreed. This thread and the obvious trolling rhetoric are tiresome.


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## (( p g )) (Aug 17, 2002)

LOL...Benmossm I love your avatar. 
The dude abides.


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## MrsMime (Sep 8, 2008)

As it turns out, a similar trojan has been found in a pirated torrent of Photoshop CS4, as well.


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## Fuji (Feb 24, 2005)

Good day all,

Fortunately this is not an issue that affects me directly, but like many of you will have to likely fix someone's rig who has downloaded and installed this malware.

I just noticed that securemac.com has released a trojan removal tool for the iwork malware and thought I would pass this along to you.

Please note that I have not used it so am only presuming it to be a fix, but do not know first hand.

Download the file from them here:
http://macscan.securemac.com/files/iWorkServicesTrojanRemovalTool.dmg

I would welcome feedback from someone who has had to use this. And remain interested in following threats to our macs security.

Talk soon and take good care!


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## MrsMime (Sep 8, 2008)

Excellent, thanks Fuji.


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## biovizier (Dec 21, 2005)

There is a general principle, and it goes something like this: If some malware gets onto your system with "root" privileges, that machine can no longer be trusted.

That means if something exploits a privilege escalation vulnerability, nothing on your machine can be trusted. Or if you give up your "admin" password to install something that turns out to be malware, your machine can no longer be trusted.

In such situations, you really should back up your data (i.e. all of your files but not applications), erase the drive, and reinstall the operating system and your applications using nothing but media known to be "clean".

If some company comes up with a tool that claims to be able to uninstall such malware, how can you be sure it gets out all of the pieces? The malware writers won't be standing still either so how can you be sure that the uninstaller you downloaded, or the uninstall instructions you read on the internet, are up to date for the variant that got onto your system? The anti-malware companies would certainly like you to believe that if you leave it to them, they will take care of everything for you, but that belief benefits them more than it does you. Maybe trust them for detection in the case of a positive result (but not a negative), i.e. if something is detected, do a reinstall the right way but if nothing is detected, don't necessarily take that as a guarantee that your system is clean.

Reinstalling might take time, but it costs nothing and should be at least as thorough, if not more, than anything from a third party. True, the uninstall tools offered so far haven't cost anything yet either, but isn't it often the case that the first one is free?


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## Fuji (Feb 24, 2005)

Hi Biovisier,

I agree with you wholeheartedly that a compromised machine should be completely wiped clean and to start everything over from scratch.

This tool is handy however. eg: Let's say a client is on deadline to submit a draft of her book to her publisher seven days from now. This "fix" from securemac provides some piece of mind that if I run it today she can get her crucial work done in the next week (she only owns one mac) and then the following week I can take her computer wipe the drive etc...

(let's not start a discussion on the ethics of an author pirating word processing software shall we, I simply providing a hypothetical situation. You could insert any occupation / application above to get the gist of my point.)

So I think that it has a place in our toolboxes.

I would also like to point out that securemac has provided other fixes for malware for free in the past. I for one, thank them for it.

Take good care!


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## ehMax (Feb 17, 2000)

lumpy cheeseman said:


> congratulations on the continued deflection of questions asked to you.


Congratulations to both of you for derailing this thread with bickering. 
Please stop. Future derailments in this thread will be removed.


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## ShawnKing (Mar 21, 2005)

ehMax said:


> Congratulations to both of you for derailing this thread with bickering.
> Please stop. Future derailments in this thread will be removed.


LMAO Way to jump in with quick action there. We stopped discussing it almost 36 hrs before your little warning.


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## lumpy cheeseman (Aug 28, 2008)

its ok, he is undoubtedly a busy fella in real life


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