“The Macintosh is no safer than Windows,” according to Leo Notenboom, writing for Ask Leo! “I firmly believe that the Macintosh operating system and Mac applications contain their share of vulnerabilities. More than Windows? Fewer than Windows? I don’t know, but it doesn’t really matter, because they are there. So why don’t we hear about Mac exploits like we do about Windows?”
Notenboom explains, “I do not own a Macintosh. I’ve come very close a time or two for various reasons, but have yet to do so. What follows is my opinion based on my understanding of the technologies involved, the state of the industry, and some assumptions about how hackers think.” Notenboom is primarily a software engineer concentrating on Microsoft’s Windows platform.
Notenboom writes, “The reason you don’t hear about massive vulnerabilities or spyware or any of that other stuff we’ve come to associate with Windows. Not because it couldn’t be done, but because no one’s bothered to do it. It’s not worth it. This is where we start trying to think like a hacker. If you wanted to cause trouble, would you write something that upset 1 out of every 25 computers? Or would you target the other 24? If you wanted to install spyware, would you write it such that it worked on 4% of computers or 96%? If you hated Microsoft, would you write a virus for the Mac? The answer for all of that should be fairly obvious. Apple and the Macintosh simply aren’t as big a target as Microsoft and Windows. As a result, you are inherently safer on a Mac, because almost no one is actively trying to cause you trouble.”
“The Mac is safer, albeit only because it’s not as big a target,” Notenboom writes. “That’s not to say that Apples aren’t worthwhile computers … in a nutshell, they rock, and I know it. Apple’s known for a superior and consistant user interface, as well as a fairly seamless hardware experience. But Windows wins market share on cost and flexibilty. And given that more market share makes you a bigger target … maybe Apple’s happy to let someone else take the bullets.”
Full article here.
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MacDailyNews Take: Oh, alright, here we go again. First of all, 16% of computer users are unaffected by viruses and assorted malware because they use Apple Macs, not 4%. Wouldn’t a hacker gain the greatest glory by creating the world’s first virus for Mac OS X, instead of virus number 119,587 (or whatever it’s up to today) for Windows? Why not collect the $500 prize for proof of the first Mac OS X virus? There are zero-percent (0%) of viruses for the Mac OS X platform that should, logically, have some 16% of the world’s viruses if platforms’ install bases dictated the numbers of viruses. The fact that Mac OS X has zero (0) viruses discounts “security via obscurity.” There should be at least some Mac OS X viruses. There are none. The reason for this fact is not attributable solely to “obscurity,” it’s attributable to superior security design.
The reason why some desperately (or ignorantly) cling to the “Mac is secure because it’s obscure” myth, is Stockholm Syndrome with a generous dollop of Cognitive Dissonance thrown in for good measure. It might make Windows sufferers feel better, but “Security Via Obscurity” is a myth. The continued repetition of the myth could also be borne of ignorance or a desire to spread fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) to keep Windows users in the fold. Security concerns have become a major reason for people switching from Windows to Mac OS X. The New York Times’ David Pogue explained all about Mac OS X’s superior security versus Windows over two years ago when he admitted he’d fallen for the myth here.
Still not convinced? Try this one on for size: according to Apple, there are “close to 16 million Mac OS X users” in the world and there are still zero (0) viruses. For five years and counting. According to CNET, the Windows Vista Beta was released “to about 10,000 testers” at the time the first Windows Vista virus arrived. So much for the security via obscurity myth.
Could Mac OS X have vulnerablities? Of course, it could. Would Mac OS X ever inflict even a tiny percentage of the damage Windows’ pervasive use has inflicted upon the world. No. Mac OS X is designed to protect the user. More info: Top 10 Mac Security Benefits (pdf).
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Security IT Hub: Apple’s Mac OS X ‘has made security a non-issue for users’ – November 21, 2005
Computer columnist: anti-virus software purely optional for Apple Macs, not so for Windows – November 01, 2005
Microsoft apologists and why Apple’s Mac OS X has zero viruses – October 24, 2005
Windows to Mac switchers: recommendations and Total Cost of Ownership analysis – September 29, 2005
$500 bounty offered for proof of first Apple Mac OS X virus – September 27, 2005
Hackers already targeting viruses for Microsoft’s Windows Vista – August 04, 2005
16-percent of computer users are unaffected by viruses, malware because they use Apple Macs – June 15, 2005
ZDNet: How many Mac OS X users affected by the last 100 viruses? None, zero, not one, not ever – August 18, 2005
Intel CEO Otellini: If you want security now, buy a Macintosh instead of a Wintel PC – May 25, 2005
Apple touts Mac OS X security advantages over Windows – April 13, 2005
97,467 Microsoft Windows viruses vs. zero for Apple Mac’s OS X – April 05, 2005
Apple’s Mac OS X is virus-free – March 18, 2005
Cybersecurity advisor Clarke questions why anybody would buy from Microsoft – February 18, 2005
Security test: Windows XP system easily compromised while Apple’s Mac OS X stands safe and secure – November 30, 2004
Microsoft: The safest way to run Windows is on your Mac – October 08, 2004
Information Security Investigator says switch from Windows to Mac OS X for security – September 24, 2004
Columnist tries the ‘security through obscurity’ myth to defend Windows vs. Macs on virus front – October 1, 2003
New York Times: Mac OS X ‘much more secure than Windows XP’ – September 18, 2003
Fortune columnist: ‘get a Mac’ to thwart viruses; right answer for the wrong reasons – September 02, 2003
Shattering the Mac OS X ‘security through obscurity’ myth – August 28, 2003
Virus and worm problems not just due to market share; Windows inherently insecure vs. Mac OS X – August 24, 2003
Nothing more to say….
The truth speaks for itself, and we in the “real IT world” have known these facts for years.
Microsoft administrators have the ability to secure their machines and with a Apple their is nothing to do but hope for the best… and that is not security.
©
windows sucks.. plain and simple
Sorry Sputnik, my University is an MS favored site and boasts of its closeness to MS engineers. It still doesn’t stop the place getting taken down by viruses.
“Microsoft administrators have the ability to secure their machines…” Get real.
cmon, peeps, get over there and post the truth!
OK, have your OS with 100,000 vulnerabilities and I’ll have mine with 50. Since it “doesn’t matter.”
He CAN’T be THAT ignorant–so the question is, why is he choosing to spread misinformation that benefits Microsoft?
He’ll never get his credibility back.
What hacker would not want to be the first t wreak havoc with Apple. They would love it.
If you are using a PC at home when there is a better alternative, well good luck with staying on top of the vulnerabilities. It can become a full time job. Matter of fact for most companies it is a full time job:
Your friendly IT Professional and he is probably not ever going to recommend a Mac.
Not worth it? A successful Mac virus is the biggest prize there currently is for a hacker. No other exploit will get you more fame and recognition than a successful OSX exploit. Windows viruses are pasé.
Yeah, get a clue sputnik. Maybe if you pulled your head out of your ass you’d realize the truth.
Thanks Sputnik.
I noticed that Leo didn’t answer the questions that his reader asked, so I helped out by leaving a comment that did answer the readers questions.
Also, I noticed that Leo worked for M$ for years and now makes his living as a “consultant”. I don’t think that his FUD is that surprising.
Sputnik is awesome. I’ve never known anyone to live so purely in a fantasy world. Keep riding those unicorns Sputnik!
Don’t you just want to punch the sh*t out of Leo? I do.
“Microsoft administrators have the ability to secure their machines and with a Apple their is nothing to do but hope for the best”
Thats because every IT guy I’ve ever met is a lazy slug that resues to even take 10 minutes to look at the system prefs panel. La La la stick fingers in ears la la la dont want to hear it, might cost me my job la la la.
Face it moron, it has everything to do with job security for YOU and those like you. Buncha technical college dropouts.
“Microsoft administrators have the ability to secure their machines”
…by powering them off, crating them up and storing them in the basement.
Sputnik.
… we don’t need to hope for the best.. because that is what already we have.
I have a copy of the unclassified document from the National Secutity Agency (the most hush-hush of the American spy agencies):
Apple Mac OS X 10.3.x “Panther” – Security Configuration Guide
1) What do you want to bet there is no equivalent guide for Windows? Has anyone seen it?
2) Does anyone know if this NSA document has been updated for Tiger?
This is security from the most serious professionals. I think they are on to something.
I do not own a Macintosh.
It was at this point that I stopped reading, since he’s not going to be able to give any advice based on experience or expertise.
I’ve driven a car for 20 years, but I’d never say that I was an automotive expert to a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers.
Why are people like this guy allowed to even write these articles…i mean, who is paying this guy to rehash an unfounded theory while trying to pawn it off as his own original thoughts?
Come on…
This is an email virus for Mac OS X. It works on the honor system. Please start deleting random files on your system and forward this message to everyone in your address book.
I’ve been around the block a few times in business and investment ventures, and when someone looks you in the eye and says something that you know is a lie, that he knows is a lie, and that he knows that you know is a lie, then the only explanation is the application of large sums of (usually untracable) money. Leo must be counting furiously.
freakin’ idiot…
…he says he is thinking like a hacker. NO hacker would turn down the chance to be known all over the world as the FIRST to write a successful virus for the Mac OS X, if a way to do so were known.
I have 2 PCs here and I used to get viruses on both of them from time to time, but it’s been just over a year now and neither of them have contracted any new diseases. I have one over there that has one that cannot be removed, and one day I’ll reinstall XP to get rid of it. But for now, that virus doesn’t bother me all that much. If I leave it running all night, the next morning it’ll be dog slow and I get messages about low memory. Now you may ask, what did I do to prevent them from becoming infected? Answer: I took em both off the net. They’re still tied to my Mac network on a subnet that’s separate from my DSL modem/router, so if I need to get something off the net to put on them I can do that pretty easy. So see? There is some truth to what was said about administrators having the ability to secure their machines.
MW=hard, as in “How hard can it be?”
The dude is phishing for web hits; please don’t bite the flamebait!
One word for this guy: Dickhead.
Maybe when he loses his virginity he’ll realise that QUALITY is better than quantity.
One more thing – all these pricks who write on these posts saying “I’ve had my PC for over a year and haven’t had a virus…” get this – look at the Sony/BMG rootkit. That was discovered by sheer fluke by a seasoned Windows programmer (I pity that guy). Only through sheer persistance and a thorough understanding of the Registry was he able to fathom out what was going on. This ‘virus’ was put there and ‘cloaked’. So even Anti-Virus apps didn’t know it was there… just because Norton says you haven’t got a virus doesn’t make it so. There are over 700,000 lines of code in Windows and it doesn’t take much to create a virus that will be invisible.
Anti-Virus apps suck, they are simply not pre-emtive enough to be effective. So keep spouting all this crap that you haven’t got a virus. What you mean to say is you Anti-Virus software has failed to detect one.
Elimate all the viruses, spam and all that junk in comparing Apple and oranges and do a real comparison and decide which is better.