Apple’s rising popularity lures hackers
(The Financial Times) - After years of relative safety, the Apple Mac is becoming an increasingly tempting target for malicious computer hackers, according to a new report published this week.
Security researchers have been aware of the threat to Apple since last year, when they detected the first piece of malicious code – or “malware” – specifically designed to target Apple.
Over the past few months, however, the number of malicious programmes has increased, according to a report published this week by F-Secure, an internet security company.
Security researchers have been aware of the threat to Apple since last year, when they detected the first piece of malicious code – or “malware” – specifically designed to target Apple.
Over the past few months, however, the number of malicious programmes has increased, according to a report published this week by F-Secure, an internet security company.
posted by BP News Bureau | 8:30 PM
2 Comments:
Whatever ... I'm not scared. Sure, Joe and Jane American love their iPods, but they're running iTunes on Windows (I shudder) and still seem too tight (and too lazy) to move away from Windows OS to learn Mac OS ... which is a piece of cake and will take you 5 minutes to master, BTW. Matter of fact, one particular family member/Mac convert told me, 'Why did you let me do this (depend on a Microsoft OS) for so long?!?!")
Yes, I preach the Apple gospel.
...when they detected the first piece of malicious code – or “malware” – specifically designed to target Apple.
Ummm, one of the very first viruses ever produced targeted the Macintosh.
Windows apologists like to say that the reason Apple and Linux are not wracked with viruses is because they are less popular. The pinhead who wrote this column is obviously playing into that hype. It's an interesting fairy tale, considering that in the Internet server domain, which is far more likely to be damaged by malware, Linux servers outnumber Windows servers at an ever increasing rate.
The facts are that malware abounds for both Apple and Linux (and other Unix flavors). I cannot speak firsthand for Apple, but there are two reasons malware doesn't get the airplay on Linux that it does on Windows: First, because Linux is a real operating system with real separation of user and system functions, and second, because the Linux community works tirelessly to identify weaknesses and exploits and correct them before they become a problem. That is as opposed to Microsoft's model, which is to ignore them until they destroy millions of dollars worth of data and waste millions of dollars worth of corporate time, only then deigning to issue a patch for the problem.
Because Apple's OS X is based on BSD Unix (an operating system similar to Linux), I suspect it will be, as is Linux, largely immune to the worst ravages of malware. I also suspect that since Apple's consumer model is far more cooperative than is Microsoft's, most malware will be detected and, if necessary, blocked in short order.
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