MacWorld 2008: Will Macs Become Less Secure?
With Mac sales up, and many new users coming to the platform, will malware writers begin to seek fresh targets? I asked the chief technologists at security companies Intego and McAfee what they saw as the primary threats to the Mac platform, both today and looking ahead.
While both agreed that Mac OS X is solid when it comes to security, they also fear that malware attacks on the Mac are inevitable—it's just a matter of when.
According to George Heron, the chief scientist at McAfee, 35% of the malware currently threatening computer users has been discovered in the past two years. In 2002, there were about 100 new detections a week. By 2007, that number had skyrocketed to 2000-plus. That's probably because the profile of cyber-criminals has changed. It's not about impressing your fellow geeks with your virus-writing prowess anymore. Today, money rules in the cyber-underworld, with malware going after financial information, credit cards, and bank accounts. Large, well-organized, highly sophisticated hackers design spam and phishing scams on a massive scale, largely operating out of China, Brazil, Russia, and the Middle East, according to Heron. More Macs in the marketplace means a growing profit opportunity in a highly profitable industry that steals billions worldwide.
Intego's Jack Nahan told me that the biggest threats to Mac users going forward are phishing, trojans, and ID theft. The two most interesting and insidious to date have been a scam where the user is invited to download a supposedly friendly new piece of anti-virus shareware called "Macsweeper" (it installs a trojan), and a "screen scraper" app that comes off the Web and never resides locally. It just copies whatever is on the user's screen (including banking information) and returns it to the scammer.
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Posted by: jwbruno | Jan 24, 2008 4:51:46 PM
I have listened to my brother preach only a matter of time for you Mac users. (He is a systems manager and of course swears by the PC platform.) I keep asking him, " when"? He says, "soon". I am still waiting. The non-attacks on Macs have little to do with market share. The hackers, scammers, phishers, etc. will go after anything they can big or small. The reason we have been safe is......the platform is safe. Rumor has it that even the Israeli, German, Chinese and English spy networks (along wit many others) are all using Macs because of their relative safety. I will stick with my Mac and know enough not to answer the email telling me that someone in Botswana left little old me several million dollars and all they need is my social security number so I can get it shipped to my bank.
Posted by: Robert Cote | Jan 24, 2008 2:00:39 PM
According to George Heron, the chief scientist at McAfee..."
Hint, McAfee makes money doing what?
Nevermind, the Mac OS X platform has decades of core behind it and for years hackers of all types have been looking for exploitable errors. Some have been found but all have been addressed before becoming so much as a concern to the general user. There have been security holes in technologies such as Quicktime but like the threats of phishing and ID theft are platform independent relying instead on the user to cooperate in the attack.
OS X is more secure and the number of exploits is not a function of marketshare nor lack of effort on the bad guys part.
Posted by: Robert | Jan 24, 2008 9:08:55 AM
I definitely agree with Bill and zlguocius. According to the National Security Agency, Mac OS X is the most secure operating system in the world. I have a document that was available from the NSA's website several months back that teaches 10.4 users how to go through the system and make specific adjustments so that the OS becomes virtually "unhackable". The NSA regularly uses Apple computers not because they're least likely to be targeted by a hacker, but because they are far more secure than anything else out there. So be careful when you talk about Apple that way Thomas, some of us (CR subscribers and Apple fanatics) will get offended.
Posted by: Eric C | Jan 23, 2008 9:41:27 PM
I agree with the two other posters. People have been predicting this "it's only a matter of time" mantra for Macs for YEARS - and it still has not come to pass. This is not news, it's speculation pure and simple.
Posted by: Bill | Jan 23, 2008 7:39:58 PM
You're asking two companies that actively sell security software how long OSX will remain secure? If I had them at my disposal I would ask them how it is that OSX has managed to stay virus, spyware and trojan free for the last 6 years. You'll have to check elsewhere for the answer to your question.
Posted by: Alex N | Jan 23, 2008 4:54:08 PM
I agree strongly with above comment. Do not scare people before it happens. Thank you
Posted by: zlguocius | Jan 18, 2008 10:33:57 PM
I no longer watch local news shows, partly because they no longer report news. Instead, in an effort to boost ratings, they resort to scaring their audience into tuning in. "Your baby may be killed by her car-seat: tune in at 11 for more!"
Please don't let the same thing happen to Consumer Reports. I read your magazine for product reviews and surveys; I don't need to be scared of what might happen to me if I neglect to "tune in" next time.