Sophos: Mac invulnerability bubble to pop in 2008?

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Sunday, 17 February 2008 09:19

Opinion and Analysis

An online poll of 355 computer users by security firm Sophos shows that 93% believe Mac is set to become a big target for hackers and malware writers, sending shivers up the spine of any Mac user that still believes they’re invulnerable to the security threats that plague Windows PCs.

The discovery of the first ‘financially motivated’ malware for Mac OS X has encouraged Sophos to conduct an online poll between the 29th January and the 7th of February 2008, with the unsurprising result that most think 2008 will be open malware season for the venerable Mac platform.

Although 93% say they think the Mac will be under serious attack this year, half of the respondents still believe Windows users will be far worse off that Mac users, calming down a Mac owner’s spine tingles somewhat, without eliminating them altogether.

Sophos have released the results on their website, which also contains a podcast called “Big Mac attack or super-sized hype?”, discussing the survey results, with Sophos claiming that “Apple Mac users are becoming less optimistic about the likelihood of their computers being attacked in future”, with a similar survey from two years ago finding only 79% of users thinking the Mac would “become more commonly targeted by hackers”.

The survey only seemed to have one statement and question, something that will likely enrage hardcore Mac fans who’ll probably say the poll uses ‘push polling’ techniques to get the answer the pollsters were looking for.

That statement and question was: “The first financially motivated malware for Macintoshes has been discovered. Do you think in the future Macs will be targeted more often?”

The only way to respond was though a ‘multiple-choice’ answer, which will probably enrage hardcore Mac fans even further still who would undoubtedly have liked to have a fourth option to leave some fanboi-esque feedback.

So, what were the answers and what were the percentages of each answer choice – and does this mean that the Mac will now descend into the depths of virus, Trojan and malware hell that Windows users have to protect themselves from every day? Please read onto page 2.