Symantec cries wolf with misplaced Mac OS X ‘security’ warning
Wednesday, March 23, 2005 - 03:21 PM EST"In a perfect would [sic], people might pay for security software based on the number of attacks prevented and the severity of those threats. The bigger the threat, the harder the software works and the more it protects, the more you pay. Seems fair enough," David Coursey writes for eWeek. "In the case of Mac OS X, if you paid for what you got, the price for security software would be zero. The price would thus equal the number of virus and malware threats that target Apple's Unix-based operating system."
Coursey writes, "So why do Mac users pay so much—often as much at $70 for anti-virus alone and as much as $150 for a security 'suite?' Using the same math, Windows anti-virus software would probably cost $1,000 a desktop, yet it's easy to find software for as little as $20 in the stores. Mac OS X users pay significantly more for protection than Windows users, protection so far they have needed only in theory or 'just in case' a big new threat appears. People are getting wise to this. So is it any wonder that Symantec, in the eternal search for the next dollar, is out with a report that seems to predict dire consequences for future Mac users? It's like a teacher once told me, 'Sell the sizzle, not the steak. Especially when you don't have any steak.'
"Is it any surprise that Symantec would beat the drums of fear as loudly as possible? This is, after all, a company that has for years persuaded Mac users to pay $70 for software 'necessary' to protect their computers against nonexistent threats," Coursey writes. "This makes me wonder whether the real threat that concerns Symantec isn't from Mac OS X viruses and malware. Rather, it's customers noticing that they've paid a lot of money for Norton anti-virus software that they didn't really need."
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Standing ovation for Mr. Coursey. If the world could magically dump Windows and instead run Apple's Mac OS X, would Symantec be able to stay in business selling "security" software? And if Symantec thinks that we're going to forget about their Mac OS X FUD report, they're sadly mistaken.
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Symantec's Mac OS X claims dismissed as nonsense, FUD - March 22, 2005
Symantec warns about Mac OS X security threat - March 21, 2005
68,736 Microsoft Windows viruses vs. zero for Apple Mac's OS X - March 12, 2005
Mac OS X has no viruses; what's wrong with Windows? - February 11, 2004
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Big gold star for Coursey. *thumbs up*