Slashdot has posted information on a cancelled contest of writing a Mac OSX virus to put to rest the recent debate of OS X being no more secure than Windows.
Now is it just me, or do I feel that people are just too damn defensive of OS X? I mean I love it. I’m using it. I can even claim that it is more “secure” than Windows. But I’ve never in my life assumed that it was invincible. And another thing, since when did it become a Apple vs MS thing again? The whole premise of the contest/post isn’t even valid since it should never had compared the two in the first place.
If I’m not mistaken, the article(s) that triggered this whole debate was from ZDNet (at least as far as Slashdot was concerned), which can be read here and here. They document Symantec’s claims of OS X’s increasing “attractiveness” of being a malware target.
In no way did I construe the article as trying to suggest any of the OSes being better than the other.
This quote from Slashdot disappointed me; it seems that Slashdot itself has lost its objectivity on the matter (that is of course, not to say that I’m objective hehehehe):
Symantec has been fanning the flames of totally bogus “Macs aren’t more secure, it’s just that Windows is a bigger target” technical-equivalence propaganda!
First off, that was misleading in itself. The use of the word “more” suggests comparison of security to something already… which is obviously followed by the mention of Windows (duh). Another is them interpreting Symantec’s claims as a technical-quivalence propaganda. I would agree on the propaganda part, but “technical-equivalence?” As I said, I failed to see them [Symantec] insinuating that any of the two OSes were more (or less) secure than the other.
Where exactly does it say in the ZDnet article (which Slashdot linked to) that Symantec has ever claimed OS X wasn’t more secure than Windows? In fact, where in the article has Symantec ever directly compared the former’s security capabilities with Windows?
Is it this quote?
Contrary to popular belief, the Macintosh operating system has not always been a safe haven from malicious code,” Symantec said. “Out of the public eye for some time, it is now clear that the Mac OS is increasingly becoming a target for the malicious activity that is more commonly associated with Microsoft and various Unix-based operating systems’
Read that damn paragraph more carefully folks. It simply says that OS X isn’t invincible as one would think (a safe haven) It mentions Microsoft and Linux (various Unix-based OSes) in passing. They never claimed that OS X was less (or more) secure than them! The real thesis statement of that paragraph is “that the Mac OS is increasingly becoming a target for the malicious activity”
This even makes it clearer:
“Look at where mobile viruses are going and they are not targeting Microsoft they are targeting the market leader, which is Symbian.”
People should quit turning this into a MS vs Apple debate! If ever there is one company to be angry with, it should be Symantec alone for using fear to market their software. I wouldn’t say that the Symantec’s claims were wrong, but I could definitely say that those same claims were used for the wrong reasons.
If a Mac whitehat site had made the same claims, I doubt anyone would take it against them. All the bickering from Apple people I read about are usually simply because they were fanboys and simply refused to see the validity of Symantecs claims – wether they be applicable now, or in the times to come.
The best comment I’ve heard in the Slashdot comments thread about the whole thing apparently was the shortest:
A computer is only as secure as its user.
Ultimately, an OS can be more secure than another, but as long as the users are complacent then “security” is just a punchline. Confidence in one’s system is different from arrogance for one’s system. So if you want to believe that OS X is invincible, be my guest. Just don’t blame anyone if your box gets messed up.
And in case you’re wondering. I don’t have any Symantec products installed on any of my systems. I use NOD32 for Windows, and no AV software in my Powerbook.