FUD Alert: should fanboys be worried about the great Mac Hack Attack?

Davey Winder
Thursday, 24 July 2008 20:26

Your IT - Home IT

What is of concern, and rightly being picked up by some in the security space, is the danger of the oft-repeated message: Macs are invulnerable. That is not the case. Everyone should worry about malware, Windows and Mac user alike. Everyone should be aware of social engineering tricks. Everyone should remain vigilant.

Yet while the 'nothing to see here' message is shouted from the rooftops the danger is that new users with bad habits might just believe it, and visit sites they wouldn't otherwise as well as run executables they wouldn't otherwise, under the false impression that nothing can go wrong 'because I have a Mac.'
 
So what is important is that the right balance is reached when it comes to the security message. One that does not stray too far into the hyperbole territory of all Mac users are doomed, nor remain with its head buried in the safe as houses sand.

The message that needs to be put across is that the only truly secure computer is the one still in the cardboard box. But that doesn't mean that Mac users should panic, because although their computers of choice are far from hack proof they are also far from being as vulnerable as Windows PCs. That is the real world truth of the matter (says a Windows user.)

There have only been a handful of identified threats for the Mac so far, compared to tens of thousands for the PC. As long as all users take the same precautions, of installing the relevant security software, updating with system and application patches as required, and following safe computing practise there should be no need to be overly concerned whichever OS you have chosen.

As 'Dave from Cleveland' says in his reader comment to that Times article, a Mac user has to be tricked into downloading an executable, tricked into installing it and finally foolish enough to enter an admin password to make any system changes it requires. "At that point" Dave remarks "you deserve what you get."

Unfortunately, it is not only the link-clicking idiots who suffer as a result of their actions as the millions of WIndows users bombarded with spam and phishing messages will concur...