Mac users have a false sense of security
fangpyre | Nov 12, 2009 | Comments 5
The first worm for the iPhone is making its rounds. But the hacker that wrote it clearly says that it isn’t a vulnerability in the iPhone itself, but rather people’s insistence on keeping vulnerabilities open.
Now I know that the iPhone is not perfectly secure. Like all platforms it has its vulnerabilities and the work of the Dev Team and others is proof that the iPhone is no exception.
A false sense of security?
I wonder if we will ever see a day where users are not to blame for a platform’s demise. The common person is amazingly predictable. Assuming that hackers will never guess that ingenious password. The number of people that follow the logic of “No, it won’t happen to me” is amazing. People refuse to backup, to update, to patch. What do people expect?!
And Mac users are more at fault than anybody else. We have a false sense of security. We believe there are no viruses and other malware that can affect us, but there are. And though they are not as many, nor are they as damaging, they do exist. And the fact is that Macs are less secure when targeted, the good news is they are less likely to get hit.
People! Back up, turn on your firewalls, change your passwords, and update your systems. And if you’re lucky, you might dodge the bullet.
Editor’s note: In the upcoming December issue you can read an interview with representatives for Trend Micro and Symantec about the current state of security and malware on the Mac and iPhone platforms.
I honestly don't know why people do not back up! With so many external hard disks that are much affordable now than ever, people need to start taking measures. I believe though it is about awareness – we techies are more in the know-how but the average Joe may not consider an external hard disk for backing up as compared to more storage
I do backup, change passwords frequently and my firewall is on. But still i feel much more secure on the Mac.
On my Windows PC, although i do have Mcafee but I still hesitate to put someone else flash memory without checking it twice.
@Kinan, Apple has improved things with Time Machine, but people still don't back up enough. I think people are either ignorant or lazy. They never think they will be hit.
@Medopal, I am not negating that Macs are safer, but that is because they are less of a target, not because they are more secure.
And the day will come when an attack will come (like the iPhone) and people are just too stubborn to take simple measures to protect themselves.
@Kinan, Apple has improved things with Time Machine, but people still don't back up enough. I think people are either ignorant or lazy. They never think they will be hit.
@Medopal, I am not negating that Macs are safer, but that is because they are less of a target, not because they are more secure.
And the day will come when an attack will come (like the iPhone) and people are just too stubborn to take simple measures to protect themselves.
@Kinan, Apple has improved things with Time Machine, but people still don't back up enough. I think people are either ignorant or lazy. They never think they will be hit.
@Medopal, I am not negating that Macs are safer, but that is because they are less of a target, not because they are more secure.
And the day will come when an attack will come (like the iPhone) and people are just too stubborn to take simple measures to protect themselves.