“Apple Macintosh users could be making themselves less secure by installing Symantec’s flagship anti-virus application,” Munir Kotadia writes for CNET News.com. “The Mac is arguably more secure than Windows for a number of reasons, including its Unix-based architecture, default password protected administration rights and lower market penetration. Mac users have not had to face any new virus threats for a number of years.

“Symantec’s latest security vulnerability highlights the fact that introducing complex code into a computer system makes that computer less secure,” Kotadia writes. “While researching this article, I asked several security experts if Mac users are more or less secure once they install Norton Antivirus. Most, such as Jo Stewart-Rattray, director of information security at Vectra Corporation, said users would be safer with NAV installed: ‘This is a glitch — a flaw, just as we see in the PC world.’”

“This time I’m afraid I have to disagree,” Kotadia writes. “As the owner of a Powerbook I am faced with a dilemma. Do I pay AU$118.15 for a flawed ‘security’ application that is designed to protect me from threats that do not seem to exist; or do I take sensible precautions like keeping my computer behind a firewall and staying up to date with OS X patches? For now anyway, instead of spending my money on a copy of NAV for OS X, I will be buying a big round in the pub.”

Full article here.

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