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Columnist on Mac vs. Windows security

updated 12:35 pm EDT, Fri September 24, 2004

Mac vs. Windows security

USA Today columnist Kevin Maney has written a follow up to his last article on Windows security. "The message I get is that people are . They are increasingly willing to consider other options. And, for whatever reasons, Apple Computer's Macintosh and Linux-based computers hardly get infected or invaded at all. My in-box is proof that hackers and virus writers know no bounds. They are filling Windows computers worldwide with pop-up ads and spyware, which can steal information from your hard drive. They're sending out viruses that outright destroy PCs, often taking out valuable digital files with it."

by MacNN Staff

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ethical_paul
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Mar 2002

0

09/24, 01:01pm | report spam | close Reply |
He still doesn't get it

He spends 1/2 the article making fun of Mac users and then says it's not Microsoft's fault that MS users are always getting hit with viruses.

Um, who does he think built the flawed OS and Apps???

koolkid1976
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: May 2003

0

09/24, 01:15pm | report spam | close Reply |
speaking of pop-up ads

When to the website to view the article, and was greeted with 2 pop-up ads, one of them being full screen. Guess I better scan my computer for virus or spyware.

gadgetgav
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Aug 2004

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09/24, 01:26pm | report spam | close Reply |
Um, no...

"Blaming Microsoft for not building in safety measures is a little like blaming Florida for being in the path of a hurricane."
I don't think that's a reasonable analogy. Viruses are hardly natural phenomena... And as for supporting the M$ stragety of educating users, " the equivalent, Barzdukas says, of telling car owners they should wear seat belts" he's just said that you don't need to be stupid or negligent to get infected, so how do they think education will help..?
Yes, Mac users are renowned for being fanatical but it's hard not to be when people are complaining that there's all these problems without considering the alternatives. To go with his car analogy, it would be like complaining that you hate every car that Ford makes, but still driving an Explorer anyway because it's a best seller.

greenamp
Mac Elite

Joined: Jun 2004

0

09/24, 01:30pm | report spam | close Reply |
sheesh

That is the absolute worst article I've ever read. What an idiot.

csimon2
Junior Member

Joined: Aug 2000

0

09/24, 01:40pm | report spam | close Reply |
WTF?

I was kind of buying what he was saying (this article was written by a windows user remember) until the very end when he said "Blaming Microsoft for not building in safety measures is a little like blaming Florida for being in the path of a hurricane." No, its not like that. Its nothing like that at all. Trivializing thousands of people's flights from their homes by comparing it to the holes inside of Windows is an egregious mistake. Microsoft can control the holes and vulnerabilities built inside their OS. Now, no they can't control stupidity when a user opens an attachment from someone they have never heard of proclaiming they are giving away $1 million to them. But, they can control whether or not it is possible to go to a normal web page and have a user's complete banking records and contact list stolen. Come on, this guy really needs to get with the program. And that program is the Mac OS!

rkadowns
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Joined: Aug 2001

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09/24, 02:15pm | report spam | close Reply |
Nobody

Nobody has ever been fired for using Windows? Well, that may soon be an incorrect statement and may already be.

It was a windows server that grounded 800 planes. I wonder if that admin is still employed.

MacnTX
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Joined: Apr 2004

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09/24, 02:45pm | report spam | close Reply |
No...

"Blaming Microsoft for not building in safety measures is a little like blaming Florida for being in the path of a hurricane."

No, it's more like blaming Microsoft for sending you to Florida to live in a shack when there is a hurricane approaching.

Sjakelien
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Joined: Sep 2000

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09/24, 03:05pm | report spam | close Reply |
Nevertheless

I didn't read the column, but I would like to add the following:
Today, I got an internal mail at work, telling me that all jpeg attachments in incoming mail messages will be deleted for the next coming weeks, because of virus alert. (see http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/09/15/windows_jpeg_bug/). Since I'm working in a Windows-dominated office, it is a smart move from the IT department. A smarter move would be though, to replace IE with any other browser, or to switch to Linux or Mac.
If you would like to use the anology of the Hurricane: our office is Florida, and Microsoft is creating such meteorologic circumstances, that hurricanes are attracted, or even created on the spot.

bobolicious
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Joined: Aug 2002

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09/24, 03:08pm | report spam | close Reply |
My guess is OS-9...

...is really the system to use - I would think that if enough clever hackers started working on OS-X, they could find opportunities...

I have a PC as well & it has been running XP pretty much flawlessly on DSL for over a year, however I do the system upgrades, checked security settings before connecting to the web, avoid 'free' website registrations & use webmail cautiously...

mbryda
Senior User

Joined: Mar 2002

0

09/24, 03:24pm | report spam | close Reply |
Start firing 'em

Nobody has been fired for keeping Windows, but maybe they should be.....

Think about it. You buy an item for your company that is fundamentally defective. Company gets hit and you have to buy more stuff to protect yourself. Then you go buy more of that same item..... Sounds like someone should be fired for incompetence.

But, nobody will stand up and do that. It's a simple migration - start at the bottom and replace systems as they come up for renewal. No difference than switching to a new system, which companies do withl regularity. If it makes you more secure or resilient to attacks, then it's worth it.

Start firing people who continue to buy, reccomend and approve Windows. That would really send a message that enough is enough. If your car or house were this insecure, you'd buy another make, not the same exact car. Yet we do it all the time with computers.

Jablabla
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Joined: Jan 2000

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09/24, 07:42pm | report spam | close Reply |
xp vulnerabilities

I've got a p4 and a new g5 on my desk.

The p4 has been infected with spyware. It was locked down. But every day you get asked to open signed programs spawned from pop up advertisements. And then you click yes by accident. It only takes one mistaken click. Just about everyone I know with a windows box has had these security issues. The problem is active x and things like it.

If Apple released OS X for Windows...he he..

Jablabla
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jan 2000

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09/24, 07:43pm | report spam | close Reply |
correction

If Apple released OS X for x86...he he..

gadgetgav
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Joined: Aug 2004

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09/24, 09:48pm | report spam | close Reply |
my company too

My company has already stopped us from transfering .zip or .exe files, I'm sure it won't be long before they strip out .jpg files too... This is internally as well as externally. Can't help but think it would be easier for the 1500 users to ditch the Exchange Server back end for a system running on X Serves, but that would probably be too confusing for the 15 people in the IT group. *That* is the inertia that lets these windows viruses spread...

just a poster
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Joined: Jun 2004

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09/24, 10:08pm | report spam | close Reply |
Re; My company too

My company has already stopped us from transfering .zip or .exe files, I'm sure it won't be long before they strip out .jpg files too...

What about .doc files - word macro viruses anyone?

Let them keep using Windows. It's just a matter of time before the only way to secure Windows is to turn the computer off.

Oh, and about the article: there's nothing a user can do to prevent the RPC/MS Blast infection. Further, the upcoming jpeg infections are also mostly unpreventable; the "patch" is not a patch - it only suggests which software uses the faulty MS library and encourages you to update it.

People just need computers to work. Microsoft is overpromising and underdelivering here.

MnMirage
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Joined: Apr 2003

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09/24, 11:13pm | report spam | close Reply |
Yes, hurricanes

Blaming Microsoft for not building in safety measures isn't like blaming Florida for being in the way of hurricanes, it's more like Florida having inadequate building codes when everyone knows full well that it's in the way of hurricanes.

What an idiot.

klinux
Senior User

Joined: Jul 2002

0

09/25, 01:57am | report spam | close Reply |
hyperbole

No need to make this sound like end of the world. A firewall (Zonealarm, for example) would easily be able to block Blaster.

And as for the JPEG exploit, Windows has already released a patch and antivirus companies have updated their signatures. Bad, yes. End of the world like how some people here like to exaggerate it? No.

klinux
Senior User

Joined: Jul 2002

0

09/25, 02:07am | report spam | close Reply |
mbryda the zealot

Stop talking big mbryda. Start with your own company then - you start firing people who buy Window and get all machines to run non-Windows OS and get back to us on how it goes, OK?

I am all for running a tight ship. Running on non-Windows machines is a solution. Having Windows and securing them is also a solution. I have been in (very large) companies where we have excellent admins who kept the company free of any worm, virus, etc. It's about the people. I am sorry you happened to be surrounded by incompetent people.

strictlyplaid
Senior User

Joined: Jun 2004

0

09/25, 09:27am | report spam | close Reply |
come on

The hurricane metaphor just means: if OS X were the most popular system, it would be relentlessly attacked by hackers as well. So unless you believe that OS X and its millions of lines of code are all flawless, we'd be no better off in that situation. And please, no comments about how you can tell that OS X is flawless because "it has UNIX underpants" or "Quartz Extreme is great!"

LordJohnWhorfin
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Aug 2002

0

09/25, 11:39am | report spam | close Reply |
Maybe so

But it just points out the fact that the current state of affairs, with Windows owning over 95% of desktops, is detrimental to everybody.
Monopoly is bad, mmm'kay? Keep in mind, the first Internet worm (how long ago was that, 20 years?) spread like wildfire because at the time the vast majority of machines connected to the Net were Sun computers, and the worm exploited a failure on that OS. The worm was completely harmless to non-Sun machines.
Bottom line, although an OSX monopoly is no more the solution than a Windows monopoly, we have everything to gain by eliminating Windows' current dominance and reaching a state where many OSs coexist, and not one of them achieves dominance.

This being said, I don't believe OSX is flawless, but I certainly believe it's orders of magnitude more secure and less flawed than Windows.

nat
Junior Member

Joined: Mar 2002

0

09/25, 02:24pm | report spam | close Reply |
Security Expert

according to this security expert you CAN blame ms...

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/12/16/windowsstyle_security_hell_stalks_mac/

nat
Junior Member

Joined: Mar 2002

0

09/25, 02:29pm | report spam | close Reply |
but..

he says it would cost companies millions to switch from windows. well, it cost them millions to switch TO windows. i've worked at two companies that switched TO windows, one from sun and one from a dec vms system. it was hellish. the one company (the sun one) had so many problems that they were tempted to abandon it but the it main guy was adamant. companies have switched from sun's, ibm mainframes, dec, mac's, you name it. the question to ask is can they afford to continue to pay the support that's needed for windows machines. it's been proven over and over that they are not cost effective in the long run.

mbryda
Senior User

Joined: Mar 2002

0

09/25, 09:47pm | report spam | close Reply |
Kluzer

"Stop talking big mbryda. Start with your own company then - you start firing people who buy Window and get all machines to run non-Windows OS and get back to us on how it goes, OK?"

Nice try.

Actually, we're not firing them because all our main and mission critical systems *DON'T* run on Windows. E-Mail and CRM and HR are on AS/400's. Our new SAP installation will be on AIX. See, our people have a clue and Windows wasn't a consideration for SAP. And we migrated our email from Windows to the 400.

About the only thing that runs on 'Blows is File and print (which we are starting to replace the file part with NAS units (not Windows) and web/intranet stuff. Which we are looking at getting it off there too.

See, we are migrating from 'Blows. Not overnight, but anytime we need to deploy a server we look at all the options and most times it's not 'Blows.

But you still need to step back and look at what's out there and see just how bad the current environment (Windows) is and look for alternatives. See, the alternatives for Windows are often better and much more reliable with a lower TCO. See the recent mishap of the FAA where 800 planes lost communications and thousands almost died (many near misses) because of a switch from reliable UNIX servers to Windows (and Dell) boxes that must be rebooted every 49.7 days or they will crash. Which they did crash and almost killed millions. This problem did not exist when the software was on UNIX servers....

just a poster
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jun 2004

0

09/26, 12:05am | report spam | close Reply |
The message is

Windows is insecure and unsecurable; the writers of malicious software are winning major battles regardless of who can ultimately win the war. Whether this is because of Microsoft's inability to create a secure OS, naive computer users or people with malicious intent is irrelevant. A solution is available: don't use Windows.

LouZer
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Nov 2000

0

09/27, 12:17am | report spam | close Reply |
Re: mbryda

I am all for running a tight ship. Running on non-Windows machines is a solution. Having Windows and securing them is also a solution. I have been in (very large) companies where we have excellent admins who kept the company free of any worm, virus, etc. It's about the people. I am sorry you happened to be surrounded by incompetent people.

First, one problem is that all admins aren't competent. Nice that you can work with them.

Second, what's your definition of 'securing them' to get virus free. I'm a developer for crappy windows software, and we need to send software to our customers on occasion. We used to send EXE's in zip files. But then the admins and virus software at their site determined ANY EXEs in zip files were bad, and couldn't be sent. So we worked around it by changing the EXE names to .ex_, and they worked in zip files for wa while. But then the admins decided (sometime last year with that long infestation of whatever that virus was that went into zip files, then password protected zip files) that ALL zip files were bad and were banned. So now we're renaming our zip files to bypass the filters.

Of course, they also all run systems that they can't install anything on them without permission, and even updates to our software takes 3-6 months of paperwork and approval to get through.

So, now, are these admins running a tight ship, or are they just inconveniencing their users to the point of s******* up productivity?

klinux
Senior User

Joined: Jul 2002

0

09/29, 01:03am | report spam | close Reply |
You said it not I

First, stop developing crappy software.

Second, do not deliver EXE via e-mail. E-mail is insecure. You or yoru client should have developed better methods of delivery softwares.

Third, I fully support network policies that do not allow user to install everything and anything uder the sun. The fact that your company cannot work with your client's IT department to work out a better solution to updating your software signals a communication proble,

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Columnist on Mac vs. Windows security

updated 12:35 pm EDT, Fri September 24, 2004

Mac vs. Windows security

He still doesn't get it

speaking of pop-up ads

Um, no...

sheesh

WTF?

Nobody

No...

Nevertheless

My guess is OS-9...

Start firing 'em

xp vulnerabilities

correction

my company too

Re; My company too

Yes, hurricanes

hyperbole

mbryda the zealot

come on

Maybe so

Security Expert

but..

Kluzer

The message is

Re: mbryda

You said it not I

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Columnist on Mac vs. Windows security

updated 12:35 pm EDT, Fri September 24, 2004

Mac vs. Windows security

Related Articles

Recent Articles

He still doesn't get it

speaking of pop-up ads

Um, no...

sheesh

WTF?

Nobody

No...

Nevertheless

My guess is OS-9...

Start firing 'em

xp vulnerabilities

correction

my company too

Re; My company too

Yes, hurricanes

hyperbole

mbryda the zealot

come on

Maybe so

Security Expert

but..

Kluzer

The message is

Re: mbryda

You said it not I

Login Here

Register for our weekly email newsletter:

Connect tools:

Subscribe

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Follow us

on Twitter

10 Most Read

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MacNN Marketplace