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Wed, Nov 25, 2009 - 05:11 PM EST — AAPL: 204.19 (-0.25, -0.12%) | NASDAQ: 2176.05 (+6.87, +0.32%)

AdAge blows it: Marketing flack tries to sell ‘Security Via Obscurity’ myth

Thursday, September 03, 2009 - 03:19 PM EST

"The PC-Microsoft campaign is about how you get more 'value' for your dollar with PCs. While not brilliant, it is straightforward," Judy Shapiro blathers for AdAge. "The key message is you pay a premium for Mac-brand bling, whereas a PC gives more features and performance for the money. Score one to Microsoft for a clear message."

MacDailyNews Take: Judy, Judy, Judy. Microsoft's message is not at all clear. Since we - unlike you, we'd venture to guess - have actually used both Macs and Windows PCs before writing about them, the Microsoft ads scream to us: "Windows PCs are for the cheap and/or ignorant who have no comprehension of Total Cost of Ownership and who are willing to settle because, regardless of the shortness of life, they do not consider themselves worthy of the best life has to offer. Judy, we don't pay a premium for "Mac-brand bling," you ignorant twit, we buy and use Macs because they are the best personal computers on the market by a wide margin.

Shapiro continues, "Now on to the Mac campaign, which has launched two spots. The first spot shows average 'Judy Consumer' making a decision between a Mac and a PC. Judy Consumer first asks PC Guy if a PC can give her hassle-free computing without 'thousands of viruses.' PC Guy tries to tell her that these types of problems are inherent to the PC experience. When she hears that, she decides to go with Mac."

Direct link via YouTube here.

Shapiro continues, "In another spot, PC Guy is dressed up as Mac Guy to misdirect Judy Consumer into thinking that Macs and PCs suffer from the same host of security issues. In this case, Judy Consumer goes off to think about what to do. But in both Mac spots, the clear implication is that Macs don't have the same security issues as PCs do because Macs are technologically built to be more secure."

Direct link via YouTube here.

"It is true that Macs, in fact, do have fewer viruses, as the spots say. But that's not the whole of it," Shapiro claims. "Many of us in technology also know that Macs are no more inherently secure than PCs. The reason they have fewer viruses is simply because their relatively small market share does not yet warrant the attention of hackers."

MacDailyNews Take: Bullshit. Judy Shapiro is a marketing flack who happens to have worked for technology firms. Judy Shapiro is no more "in technology" than Steve Wozniak is "in the Bolshoi Ballet."

Undaunted by her own withering ignorance, Shapiro plods on, "Indeed, just to make sure I was right technologically, I double-checked my facts. I posed the following scenario to the CEO of a well-known security company: 'If PCs and Macs had equal market share, would Macs be safer than PCs?' His blink-of-an-eye answer was, 'No, Macs would not be safer.'"

MacDailyNews Take: Judy the Tech Genius goes to an antivirus software peddler to ask if people need to buy antivirus software and seems reassured that he said, "Why, yes, Judy, yes they do." Stay tuned for Judy's next article where she asks diamond sellers if women should buy diamond rings for their fiancés, too. Judy, you wouldn't recognize a fact if it fell on your empty head.

Judy the Tech Genius continues, "He gave me an excellent metaphor for the situation. He said Macs are no safer from viruses than Native Americans were safe from smallpox before the Europeans came. True, Native Americans were not dying from small pox before the Europeans -- not because they were immune but because they had never been exposed. We all know the tragic truth in that case."

MacDailyNews Take: Sheesh. Alright, that's enough of the rambling, utterly painful stupidity of Judy "I'm in Tech" Shapiro.

Yet again, for the umpteenth time — sigh — it is utterly illogical to state or imply that the Mac platform is secure via obscurity. Why, if obscurity means security, in April 2007 was there a virus for iPods running Linux (a few thousand devices total, to wildly overestimate, in all the world), but there are no viruses in nine, yes nine, years for the over 30 million Mac OS X computers that are currently online? When we hit a nice round virus-free decade will abject morons like Judy finally wise up? And, why would criminals not target the most affluent personal computer users, the tens of millions of Mac users around the world?

We've asked those and similar questions for years, yet the silence remains deafening and telling. Instead we get a steady stream of lies and/or ignorance fro the likes of Judy "I'm in Tech" Shapiro.

The idea that Windows' morass of security woes exists because more people use Windows and that Macs have no security problems because fewer people use Macs, is simply not true. By design, Mac OS X is simply more secure than Windows. Period. For reference and reasons why Mac OS X is more secure than Windows, The New York Times' David Pogue, provides a concise mea culpa on the subject of the "Mac Security Via Obscurity" myth here.

Simple logic is certainly not what AV software peddlers, Windows PC box assemblers, and the leeches affixed to the Windows ecosystem want people to hear. Fear is what they're after and they love bullshitting to the Judy Shapiros of the world. The sheep must be kept in the Windows pen, no matter the cost to reputations, reality, productivity, sanity, etc. Far too many have far too much invested in Microsoft Windows for them to stand idly by and let it all slip away due to a vastly superior, vastly more secure solution from Apple. But, slip away it does nonetheless.

Every single time there is a Windows virus outbreak or a new OS release, the "Security Via Obscurity" myth gets trotted out. This is done for a reason, even though it gets more ridiculous with each passing year.

"Security via Obscurity" is a defense mechanism for the delusional and also tool for Microsoft apologists and/or those who profit from the Windows economy that's designed to be used when attempting keep Windows sufferers from straying. 30 million Mac OS X installs is not "obscure" at all, but nine (9) years of Mac users surfing the Net unimpeded certainly is "secure." Besides social engineering scams (phishing, trojans; no OS can instill common sense) the only thing by which Mac users are really affected are large swaths of compromised Windows machines slowing down the 'Net with spam and nefarious botnet traffic targeted at exploiting even more insecure Windows boxes.

The. Problem. Is. Windows. Get a Mac.

The full brainlessness of Judy "I'm in Tech" Shapiro — Think Before You Click™ — here.

MacDailyNews Note: We hope Judy likes email. Contact info:
Judy "I'm in Tech" Shapiro:

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Sep 03, 09 - 02:26 pm Comment from: freebeer

Judy Shapiro is exactly the kind of average PC user virus/AV makers target to take to the bank.

Actually there are a couple of virus vectors on the Mac. They're called Adobe Acrobat Reader and Adobe Flash plug-in.

Sep 03, 09 - 02:32 pm Comment from: HMCIV

"He said Macs are no safer from viruses than Native Americans were safe from smallpox before the Europeans came. True, Native Americans were not dying from small pox before the Europeans"

So that's why Bill Gates came around handing out blankets!

Sep 03, 09 - 02:36 pm Comment from: Ferf Muckmeyer

This woman is a moron. She knows nothing of technology and deserves to be eaten by a pack of wolves.

Sep 03, 09 - 02:43 pm Comment from: Sherm

@Ferf

That is a bit harsh...for the wolves to swallow. How about animal cruelty?

Sep 03, 09 - 02:45 pm Comment from: Mr. Reeee

Since when is twit spelled with an 'I' instead of an 'A'?

Sep 03, 09 - 02:47 pm Comment from: Jason

Judy Shapiro is no more "in technology" than Steve Wozniak is "in the Bolshoi Ballet."

ROTFLMFAO!

Sep 03, 09 - 02:50 pm Comment from: sMac

"Security via Obscurity"?
Apple has been taunting hackers and virus makers for years with the TV ads and by the millions of Mac users that brag about the Mac user experience.
Who is the biggest target?
There are just too many sheeple in this world.

Sep 03, 09 - 03:02 pm Comment from: Ferf Muckmeyer

@Sherm

LMFAO!

fm

Sep 03, 09 - 03:03 pm Comment from: Gabriel

Repeat a lie often enough... and you'll still look like a complete idiot. Bravo, Ms. Shapiro.

And I'll have to second Jason on the "Bolshoi Ballet" line - that's the stuff I keep coming back to MDN for!

Sep 03, 09 - 03:13 pm Comment from: TheConfuzed1

Heh... Judy, you ignorant slut!

Sep 03, 09 - 03:24 pm Comment from: Wings2Sky

Okay, fine! Suppose that it's true. I mean, really, suppose all of our arguments are simply being a Mac apologist fanboy.
Regardless of the reason, Macs are more secure. And they are just as capable or more so than a PC. And despite growing market share, the hackers are still 'leaving it alone' so go buy a Mac. Things probably won't change much (with regard to viruses) in the next upgrade cycle (that is, until it's time to buy a new computer) so you will have at least one upgrade cycle that is virus free. If Macs, remain 'obscure', then you can continue to be virus free. If not, you can decide to jump back into PC land. But wouldn't you like to have a worry free computing experience RIGHT NOW! (and not have to wait for Windows 7 or 8 or Sahara?

Sep 03, 09 - 03:25 pm Comment from: thethirdshoe

Ah, the good ole' SNL nights.

Sep 03, 09 - 03:25 pm Comment from: BVD

Bullshit! That just about covers it all. Good job.

Sep 03, 09 - 03:26 pm Comment from: disposableidentity

The first hacker to take out a million Macs would be worshipped as a nerd god for a hundred years. I'd say that's enough incentive. So why hasn't it happened?

As I read somewhere else (sorry, I've forgotten where, so I might be paraphrasing):

"Obscurity might explain where there are fewer Mac viruses, it doesn't explain why there are none".

Sep 03, 09 - 03:31 pm Comment from: Demon

I develop software for the Mac OS X and Linux. I use to do it for Windows too but, the cost of maintaining uniformity in features and user experience dictated that Windows Support was no longer a viable platform due to it's proprietary requirements (DirectX, COM Plus ...), Windows also was slower and had too many buggy API's. As our customer base is mostly Bio Scientist and Bio Engineers few used Windows anyway. We still get the odd request now and then to support Windows
From a developer stand point I can tell you that the Mac OS X is almost 99.5% impervious to the creation and distribution of a Virus across the Mac Community the Mac OS X does not lend itself to be infected without the user being involved and authenticating the install of the virus, a Trojan or even Malware. Windows on the other hand (including Vista and Windows 7) have too many attack vectors and too large of an attack surface. While the Microsoft UAC is a big step forward for Windows it does not go far enough because it's just skin deep protection that Hackers have already created code to bypass that can be put on the system without the users knowledge and will defeat UAC even with it on. Go to any of the Hacker sites or their IRC Channels and the code is freely available and is even packaged for script kiddie ease of use.
A Hacker as not been able to defeat the Authentication security method and Kernel protect logic built-in to the foundation of Mac OS X. The so call security experts like to claim the Mac OS X is no more secure then Windows because it would be bad (disaster) for their main business which is Windows Anti Virus, Anti Malware and Security Tools business. If a company like Symantec and/or CA came out and even hinted that the Mac was more secure the floodgate of Corporate Switching would be so huge that they would go belly up in less then 3 years. Microsoft would hemorrhage market share like a criminal gunman hemorrhages blood after the police have to fill him up with lead after refusing to drop the fire arm and lay face down on the ground.
The reason that Companies have to switched to the Mac or Linux in large number's is IT Staff and Manager think that the Mac OS X has the same security issues as a Windows Box. They buy and hold on to that old ‘Security Via Obscurity’ myth because it's spoon fed to them every day by Microsoft and their Security Vendors who don't want them to move to the Mac because they would then loose business.
If a Toyota Dealer tells you that a Toyota is the best built, safest car in the world and best value for the money car in the world, then you go to a Toyota Mechanic and ask who makes the worlds best build, safest and best value car, what do you think that person is going to say? BMW, Audi, Saab, Daimler or VW, no they are going to tell you Toyota. (who doesn't make the best, safest or best valued car in the World by the way).

Sep 03, 09 - 03:41 pm Comment from: Big Als MBP

Want to know a dirty little secret?

The real limiting factor for viruses on Windows is that Microsoft sends out virus eradication software to each and every registered Windows owner and this software finds and isolates or eliminates viruses on almost everyone's computer.

Microsoft has never disclosed how many infected systems it finds every month but it has to range in the millions. The sad part is, none of the computer users are ever told that Microsoft has found and eradicated virus(es) on their computer this month.

If people knew there'd be a lot more switchers.

Sep 03, 09 - 03:57 pm Comment from: ron

Judy is a silly moo.

Sep 03, 09 - 04:01 pm Comment from: Mac Daddy

She's doing a great job propagating the myth that women are tech-stupid. She should keep her yap shut.

Sep 03, 09 - 04:04 pm Comment from: Mr. Fergus

Microsoft is sure buying a lot of time on the web.

Sep 03, 09 - 04:07 pm Comment from: Roberto

What a skank

Sep 03, 09 - 04:17 pm Comment from: ralph from berlin

all well said but David Pogue's article is way to old (2003) to be a reference here. mdn, update!

Sep 03, 09 - 04:48 pm Comment from: MrScrith

@MDN

I don't think you should be using the "virus for linux on iPod" argument (Mac System 9 argument should be good enough), If you actually read that link you have about the Virus for Linux on iPod you will see that it's a Proof of Concept that requires the User to Install the virus for it to run, that's not a Virus, that's a Proof of Concept, it's not even a Trojan as it's not coming with another file, the user knows exactly what they are getting into when they install and run it.

Sep 03, 09 - 05:12 pm Comment from: Zeke

Security via Obscurity...

By that logic the Jaguar XKR should be one of the least stolen cars in America. It's #5 on the list of 335 make/models.

Sep 03, 09 - 05:28 pm Comment from: January 24, 1984

"Jane, you ignorant slut!"

Sep 03, 09 - 05:40 pm Comment from: ken1w

"Security via Obscurity"? That's a good laugh. Go to any coffee shop (except for the one on the Redmond campus) and tell me Macs are "obscure." These flacks being paid off by Microsoft are getting pretty desperate to keep trying to convince people how "obscure" Macs are these days.

Sep 03, 09 - 05:44 pm Comment from: Hayes Philip L

Doesn't anyone think that if they could make a virus for the Mac that works, they would... just to put this debate to an end? You can't tell me that some hacker, somewhere hasn't thought... "ya know... I'm going to make a simple virus, just to shut those Mac people up". We'll if they could, we'd see it!

Sep 03, 09 - 05:46 pm Comment from: dd

Judy Shapiro is an Eric Willard
La la la la la la
♪♫

Sep 03, 09 - 05:47 pm Comment from: Nashgul

Jane, you idiot!

That's like asking a real estate agent, if the crisis is over, and the real estate market is going up.

What on earth did you thing the answer would be !?

Sep 03, 09 - 05:55 pm Comment from: Another IT Guy...

Can't find another article other than Pogue's outdated, six-year old screed against XP? As if nothing has changed in six years...

"The real limiting factor for viruses on Windows is that Microsoft sends out virus eradication software to each and every registered Windows owner and this software finds and isolates or eliminates viruses on almost everyone's computer.

Microsoft has never disclosed how many infected systems it finds every month but it has to range in the millions. The sad part is, none of the computer users are ever told that Microsoft has found and eradicated virus(es) on their computer this month."

You're making shit up here. The MSRT package (M$'s malware removal tool) is a purely optional but very useful tool that individual users can download via Windows Update or businesses can push out automatically via WSUS or SCCM. It's not a secret, it's common knowledge.

Its results in scanning and removal are also publicly posted regularly: http://blogs.technet.com/mmpc/

Where's Apple's malware numbers? And why are they so slow to patch known defects? Java patching, anyone? http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9137502/Apple_patches_critical_Java_bugs_but_leaves_Leopard_users_vulnerable

Charlie Miller broke Safari today in under ten seconds: http://www.itwire.com/content/view/23941/53/

No question, there's less malware on Apple systems. Let's just not pretend that Apple is open about their security practices while M$ is engaging in conspiracies. You're really pretty ignorant about these things. You should just shut up or learn to use a search engine.

Sep 03, 09 - 06:01 pm Comment from: NCIceman

I smell MS's hand in all this. Really, if it is security versus obscurity, then how come, after the number of mac out there have increased exponentially in the past 3 years, there are STILL no major virus outbreaks for the mac?

Sep 03, 09 - 07:07 pm Comment from: MacGuy

"PC gives more features and performance for the money"

If you include your performance of Defragging, Reinstalling OS and cleaning shit that doesnt work in the first place...... YES

Sep 03, 09 - 07:19 pm Comment from: Richard A Tell

Judy - don't give up your day job.

If the message in the MS ad is so "clear" then why did she have to explain it?

Sep 03, 09 - 09:02 pm Comment from: leodavinci

@ another IT guy,

Outdated?

Has anything changed since Pogue wrote that piece... say like Windows no longer has virus problems, malware, etc., etc., etc.?

Didn't think so.

Sep 03, 09 - 09:58 pm Comment from: readmore

Our security company CEO got his analogy backwards. Were the Native Americans safe from smallpox before they were exposed to it? Sure. But how about after? By some estimates, 95 percent of the native population succumbed to smallpox. The much smaller (obscure!) European population in America was relatively unaffected. Why? They had immunities! The obscure population was equally exposed -- and don't Mac users get all the same virus-laden emails as Windows users? Obscurity confers no protection when we're all swimming in the same data stream. The Mac's immunities come from its own unique, deliberately designed DNA. Obscurity has nothing to do with it.

Sep 03, 09 - 10:12 pm Comment from: unBias

@Demon
Amen... I had copied one person comment and keep it in file before, but you are the second person I copied the comments. Straight to the point. Now only times will proof OS X wright or wrong. MS should consider that in 10 years a new generation will have the purchased power and these kids will be as picky about technology as today 26-36 years old people is picky about cars. Now car industry has mature lot, so every car maker has to adapt to market and price is not necesary the first thing you look to buy a car... Now I thing OS X is at that level, but MS will have to come up to, so future buyers (home and business) will know better that "Security via Obscurity", so MS will have to do better that anything they have done up to today.. So time will tell.. I wish MDN keep all this articles, and then every time OS X share market grow bring it back and ask: Well we still waiting for the first Chicken pox pandemic in our poor native american MACS. jajaja..

Now, I think that all this will be irrelevant,since I believe that 5-6 years from now, apple desktop/laptops will be running the same os that iphones do, but with more power and functions, and a New era will start, the change will be so fast, that MS will still trying to beat the iphone, but the desktop battle will be lost already...

Sep 04, 09 - 01:54 am Comment from: Judy Shapiro's Tweet

August 8 - 6:51 PM

My home computer died last night -- felled by a virus, the Black Plague of the digital age. I am in mourning and mild panic.

http://twitter.com/judyshapiro/status/3200855678

- Cünt

Sep 04, 09 - 02:06 am Comment from: Jonk

@Another IT Guy...

So, with unpatched vulnerabilities, and Safari with a glass jaw... why are there STILL no mac viruses in the wild? Your argument is illogical.

Sep 04, 09 - 09:19 am Comment from: ElderNorm

Just a thought. I read the comments over at "Judy's" and even there people are commenting that she is wrong. Her reply,,,, I found some article on the web so it must be true.....

We cannot make pc users understand.... only time and lots of suffering can do that. LOL Lots of suffering.

Just a thought,
en

Sep 04, 09 - 10:00 am Comment from: Harvey

Yep, Macs are definitely obscure. Why just the other day, I was having an imaginary conversation with an imaginary hacker and mentioned that I had a Mac. He asked, "What's a Mac?Does it come with special sauce?" I told him it was a Mac, not a Big Mac, a computer, not a sandwich, manufactured by Apple. He said, "Never heard of them." Then I explained that it's the same company that sells iPods through hundreds of company-owned and Apple-branded retail stores all over the world. He said, "Really? Never heard of that."

How can Macs have security through obscurity if they aren't obscure?

The real question is not, "Why don't Macs have viruses?" Or even "Why doesn't any implementation of UNIX have viruses?"
The real question is, "Why does Windows get viruses?"

Sep 04, 09 - 02:02 pm Comment from: Pete

Incredible! Someone posted this in the comments to the original article:

http://twitter.com/judyshapiro/status/3200855678

Sep 04, 09 - 03:39 pm Comment from: Boghog

Also check out:

You know you’ve made it to the big time – when you get Mac Attacked

Sep 04, 09 - 05:35 pm Comment from: @Another IT Guy...

"Can't find another article other than Pogue's outdated, six-year old screed against XP? As if nothing has changed in six years..."

You're right. In the six years since Pogue's article Microsoft has created UAC, a cheap and worthless veneer of security that fails to protect Windows to any degree at all.

Yeah, it's a whole new ballgame now!!11!!1

Meanwhile, in the same amount of time, it has remained completely impossible to write a virus for OS X. But forget about 10.6 Snow Leopard for a moment. Roll back all the system updates, all the point releases, all the security patches, aaaaaall the way back to the very first version of OS X to hit the shelves. And what will you find?

You'll find that nobody has even succeeded in breaking 10.0 Cheetah.

Wake me up when somebody manages to make the very *least* secure version of OS X fall to malware. Then we can start debating the effectiveness of Mac security.

Nov 11, 09 - 10:09 am Comment from: anon

new video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXEiOlD7Y0I

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AdAge blows it: Marketing flack tries to sell ‘Security Via Obscurity’ myth

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Wed, Nov 25, 2009 - 05:11 PM EST — AAPL: 204.19 (-0.25, -0.12%) | NASDAQ: 2176.05 (+6.87, +0.32%)

AdAge blows it: Marketing flack tries to sell ‘Security Via Obscurity’ myth

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