Get a Mac: Viruses, spyware cost U.S. consumers $7.8 billion over last two years
Tuesday, August 08, 2006 - 01:30 PM EST"Consumers paid as much $7.8 billion over two years to repair or replace computers that got infected with viruses and spyware, a Consumer Reports survey found," Kim Hart reports for The Washington Post.
Hart reports, "That figure was down from a similar survey a year ago. Still, it suggests that people are paying large sums to cope with the flood of malicious viruses and other programs that can slow computers or render them inoperable. 'There is a very high national cost to this,' said Jeff Fox, technology editor of the consumer magazine. 'People think they're invincible, even when this kind of money is involved.'"
"Viruses are the most expensive, with people paying $5.2 billion in 2004 and 2005 to repair or replace afflicted machines, the survey found," Hart reports. "Infections of spyware, a type of software that can track computer users' habits or collect sensitive information about them, declined slightly in the past six months, the survey found. But such infections caused almost 1 million U.S. households to replace their computers, the survey found."
Hart reports, "The Consumer Reports survey of 2,000 households found that 20 percent of respondents didn't have antivirus software and that 35 percent didn't use spyware-blocking software. As the Internet gains more users, it's important to educate them on the security risks, Cole said. The survey results are to be published in the September issue of Consumer Reports."
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: If the world was 100% Mac for the last two years, the cost would have been $0 due to viruses and spyware. Good thing you saved $29.67 per laptop by going with Dell, right, Mr. IT Guy? In reality, the Windows mess is really much worse than Consumer Reports' mere $7.8 billion over the last two years figure. According to the FBI, "Viruses, spyware, other computer-related crimes cost U.S. businesses $67.2 billion per year."
It’s really sad that so many people have to be wary about opening email, visiting websites, chatting with presumed “buddies,” or downloading music, photos, movies or other files over the Internet. No one should have to zealously guard their computers against spyware, viruses, trojan horses, or various other types of malware. Or run a bewildering assortment of (quickly obsolete) virus-protection apps. And no one should have to run a computer to a nearby computer store, so it can be “cleaned” on a routine basis. Do you know why people put up with that? If their cars didn’t drive where they wanted to go; their TVs didn’t play what they wanted to watch; or their phones didn’t connect to the party they called, how long would they keep using them?
Apple provides more info online about Mac's lack of viruses here.
By the end of 2005, there were 114,000 known viruses for PCs. In March 2006 alone, there were 850 new threats detected against Windows. Zero for Mac. While no computer connected to the Internet will ever be 100% immune from attack, Mac OS X has helped the Mac keep its clean bill of health with a superior UNIX foundation and security features that go above and beyond the norm for PCs. When you get a Mac, only your enthusiasm is contagious. - Apple's "114,000 viruses? Not on a Mac." webpage.
By the way, before anyone gets any bright ideas: "Security via Obscurity" is a myth. Mac OS X has zero (0) viruses. For over five years and counting. No Mac OS X users affected outside of a lab with old, non-updated Mac OS versions that they intentionally infected.
The idea that Windows' morass of security woes exists because more people use Windows and that Macs have no security problems because less people use Macs, is simply not true. Mac OS X is not more secure than Windows because less people use OS X, making it less of a target. 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, read The New York Times' David Pogue's mea culpa on the subject of the "Mac Security Via Obscurity" myth here.
Macs account for roughly 10% of the world's personal computer users — (some say as much as 16%) — so the first half of the myth doesn't even stand up to scrutiny. Macs aren't "obscure" at all. Therefore, the Apple Mac platform's ironclad security simply cannot logically be attributed to obscurity.
There are zero-percent (0%) of viruses for the Mac OS X platform that should, logically, have some 10-16% of the world's viruses if platforms' install bases dictate the numbers of viruses. The fact that Mac OS X has zero (0) viruses totally 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.
Still not convinced? Try this one on for size: according to Apple CEO Steve Jobs yesterday at WWDC, there are "19 million Mac OS X users" in the world and there are still zero (0) viruses. 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.
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