Macs next major target for cyber crooks say computer users

Stan Beer
Saturday, 16 February 2008 05:56

Your IT - Home IT

The vast majority of computer users surveyed in a recent poll believe Apple Macs are in for increased attempts to compromise their security, suggesting that Macs are increasingly being viewed as a platform worthy of the attention of cyber attackers.

A web poll of 355 computer users, conducted by security firm Sophos after the discovery of the first financially motivated malware for Mac OS X, has revealed that 93% believe Apple Macs will be targeted more in future. Not surprisingly, however, half of those polled said they did not believe the problem would be as great as that faced by users of Microsoft Windows.

The survey results, revealed in a Sophos podcast entitled "Big Mac attack or super-sized hype?", purportedly show that Apple Mac users are becoming less optimistic about the likelihood of their computers being attacked in future. According to Sophos, a similar survey two years ago, found only 79% believed that Macintosh computers would become more commonly targeted by hackers. However, as neither survey identified how many Mac users were among the respondents, it is difficult to see how a conclusion about the optimism of Mac users concerning their computer security can be drawn.

In the latest Sophos web poll, the following questions were asked between 9 January-7 February 2008 with the resulting responses:

The first financially motivated malware for Macintoshes has been discovered. Do you think in the future Macs will be targeted more often?

Yes, but not as much as Windows        50%
 
Yes                                                  43%
 
No                                                    7%

"Although we have seen the first attempts by criminal gangs to make money through Mac OS X malware, the fact of the matter is that there is only a tiny number of viruses and Trojan horses for Apple Macs when compared to Windows PCs. It seems unlikely that the Mac virus problem will ever be as big as the Windows one," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos.

"Yes, the Macintosh malware threat is a concern - but it's important to put it in perspective. Sophos's podcast discusses the history and evolution of Macintosh malware, helping IT administrators better understand the problem and protect their systems."

Last month Sophos published its annual Security Threat Report, which described how financially motivated hackers had targeted Apple Mac computers with malware for the first time.