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Apple’s Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard vs. Microsoft’s Windows 7: Which is more secure?

Wednesday, February 17, 2010 · 1:12 pm · 53 Comments

“I’ve said here before that, ‘I’m more secure on a Mac than I was on Windows,’” Kenneth van Wyk writes for Datamation’s IT Management. “But now we have a couple new(ish) kids in town: Windows 7 and Snow Leopard. It’s time to see if that statement still holds true.”

“Well, after using Snow Leopard for a few months, and taking Windows 7 for a good spin, I’m happy to report I’m still more secure on a Mac,” van Wyk writes.

“To paraphrase Jeremiah Grossman, it needn’t be the case that one operating system is more secure per se; what matters is where you’re safest,” van Wyk writes. “Safe and secure are two different concepts, and I’m convinced that what matters to the consumer is where he is safest. And I’m convinced I’m safer on a Mac than I ever was on Windows.”

Full article here.

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Comment Feed

53 Comments

« Previous 1 2 3

WTFrank

Wednesday, February 17, 2010 - 6:31 pm · Reply

How fun… the trolls are out today. They’re so cute at that age.
botoncandy

Wednesday, February 17, 2010 - 6:41 pm · Reply

I hope that Cocolio comes back.
The insane statements and atrocious grammar were really quite amusing.
@ Cocolio

Wednesday, February 17, 2010 - 7:27 pm · Reply

Really, I agree–please don’t go. Stay around at least until you come up with something approaching a decent post, then we’ll congratulate you and you can move on (misunderstand the nature of our congratulations, of course, as about the _content_ of your post’s argument, when in fact it will only about the progress of your intellectual development. I do realise this may take decades).

Now, to matters at hand: zero (0) viruses for OSX, tens of thousands for Windows. ActiveX does not run on OSX–out, then, as an attack vector. Trojans, worms, other nasties–while possible in theory (a trojan, after all, requires user permission to run, so it _could_ happen), are not yet an issue in fact. They may become so, but their likely effectiveness is inherently lower than their Windows brethren by nature of the underlying architecture of OSX.

Yes, it’s true–Linux too has no viruses, but, as with OSX, may theoretically become home to trojans. Again, for Linux, the effectiveness of said trojans will be far lower than for Windows malware.

If your point was that both OSX and Windows are less secure than Linux, sorry, but no. If your point was that because you use Linux you’re superior to OSX users, no again–no matter what _you_ use, you’ll never be superior. Linux, too, will never be ‘superior’ to OSX. Eventually it may approach OSX in terms of usability, ease, and software options, but that, like your intellectual progress, will also take decades.
ChrissyOne

Wednesday, February 17, 2010 - 7:27 pm · Reply

Excuse me, stewardess… I speak jive…
Derek Currie

Wednesday, February 17, 2010 - 10:49 pm · Reply

If author Kevin van Wyk had extensive experience with computer security, this article might have been of interest. Unfortunately, the article is incomplete, contains some significant errors and entirely skipped obvious security concerns:

1) He sez: “Neither operating system includes anti-virus protection by default.”

Bullshite. 10.6 has a malware detection system running by default with signatures for some Trojans. However, it is fair to say that this is an extremely limited and immature anti-malware system. Hopefully Apple will pursue it further in the future. Mac OS X Server has incorporated ClamAV for many years. It would be good to see it moved into the client version as well. However, it must be noted that getting Mac OS X malware signatures incorporated into ClamAV is extremely difficult, partly due to the anti-Mac culture over at the project site. Thankfully, the author of ClamXav for Mac has made some headway in this respect.

2) He sez: “Neither system is immune to viruses, and we certainly have plenty of examples of this fact.”

Bullshite. There never have been ANY viruses for Mac OS X, period. There are, however, Trojan horse malware for Mac OS X, all of which require LUSER behavior in order to be installed. Most likely Mr. van Wyk simply does not know proper malware terminology. BTW: There are currently 21 known Trojans for Mac OS X compared to 100s of thousands of various malware for Windows.

3) He entirely skipped the security history of both operating systems. Windows 7 has been cracked from out in the wild several times at this point. Mac OS X has never been cracked from out in the wild without user assisted sabotage. Plus there is the fact that Windows in general has over 10,000x more malware of all varieties than Mac OS X. (That simple fact blows the ‘security via obscurity’ myth to hell. It also indicates that Mac OS X is by nature profoundly more secure than any Windows system).

4) The article ends on a pointlessly wimpy note: “I remain a firm believer that I’m safer on Snow Leopard than I would be on Windows 7.”

No one has to ‘believe’ Mac OS X is the safer. The facts prove Mac OS X is vastly safer than Windows 7.

5) He completely left out security dangers caused by non-system software. On Apple’s side this includes Safari and most of all QuickTime. On the Windows side this includes Internet Explorer, well known to be the single worst web browser on the market, as well as ActiveX and JScript, both of which are wide open security holes begging for hackers and crackers to enter any Windows machine. Microsoft also deliberately provide only an archaic and hobbled version of Java as a retaliation against their losing their J++ abomination lawsuit from Sun Microsystems. Whereas, Apple provide a much more up-to-date and secure version of Java.

6) He left out the fact that Windows 7 does have superior memory address protection over Mac OS X 10.6, which helps fend off some buffer overrun system pwning. Hopefully Apple will take memory protection more seriously in 10.7.

If you’d like to read more Mac security information, I keep track of this stuff at:

http://Mac-Security.blogspot.com
SKY LARK

Thursday, February 18, 2010 - 7:14 am · Reply

How’s that blue tutu fitting, cocolio? Too tight? Too loose?
El Guapo

Thursday, February 18, 2010 - 8:01 am · Reply

@Cocolio

You deserve to use Windows the rest of your life.
gerard

Thursday, February 18, 2010 - 8:23 am · Reply

http://tempsreel.nouvelobs.com/actualites/medias/20100218.OBS7333/une_attaque_informatique_met_en_peril_plusieurs_pays.html

An computer attack puts in danger several countries

“tandis que ce sont des failles dans les systèmes d’exploitation XP et Vista qui sont exploitées par les malfaiteurs.”

which means: “while they are faults in the operating systems XP and Vista which are exploited by the criminals.”
fenman

Thursday, February 18, 2010 - 9:06 am · Reply

When I last looked (about 2 years ago) there were at least 116 known Linux viruses. Of course with any fragmented system like Linux there are some distros that are more secure than others but it is NOT, I repeat NOT virus free.

A Trojan attack on any Windows platform does not always require social engineering to initial execution. On any version of OSX it does.

Malware can and does exist on any platform, even the vaunted Dec Alpha based systems had malware, not much it is agreed, but it still existed.

These days malware falls into three categories:
1) Technical – little involvement required by the victim
2) Socially engineered – need to con the victim into some action
3) Hybrid – combines elements of both the preceding.

As for the debate about M$ vs OSX – it’s already over and the market has decided. When you get 90% of all personal computers over $1,000 all from a single vendor with a common platform (as you have with OSX now), then the battle is over.

Apple is approximately 3/4 the market cap of M$, has about 2 x the cash reserves, a quarter of the employees producing much higher revenue per head, Zero corporate debt. If Apple wanted to they could launch a hostile takeover of M$ and you know what – they’d probably win. Their cash base is much larger proportional to M$ value than many other successful hostile takeover bids.

Interesting thought. Personally I wouldn’t want them to take over M$. They have better things to do.
BluefinPro

Thursday, February 18, 2010 - 10:36 am · Reply

@C1

Cut me some slack, jack! Chump don’ want no help, chump don’ git no help. Jive ass dude don’ got no brains anyhow!
Derek Currie

Saturday, February 20, 2010 - 5:02 am · Reply

cocolio bashing:

Too easy. I wanna play! This lazy troll sez:

“…most malware comes in cookies, malicious acrtivex controls…”

No. Actually, the worst thing cookies can do is track you across the Internet and send documentation of what you click on at any of their affiliated websites. They’re called ‘Tracker Cookies’. They compromise your privacy. You can stop them dead in any web browser by setting the preferences to not accept cookies from 3rd party sites. The end. Not malware. They are incapable of compromising any computer.

As for CraptiveX, that’s a Microsoft Windows security hole. No comprendé on Mac thank goodness. You can access CraptiveX if you want to via an extension for FireFox. But malware CraptiveX controls no comprendé Mac OS X and are therefore inert.

Conclusion: Cocolio-The-Troll-Clown does not comprehend either Internet technology OR Mac OS X. QED dead in the water. Like I said, too easy.
Cocolio

Saturday, February 20, 2010 - 9:19 am · Reply

hahahaha this stupid thread keeps going on, good, more comments anyone?
Derek Currie

Saturday, February 20, 2010 - 2:02 pm · Reply

Thus the name ‘troll’ for trash like Cocolio. Trolls hide in the dark, pounce on you to make you miserable, laugh and laugh at other people’s misery, but turn to stone in the light of reality.

The other name for it is S&M;.

Trolls HATE being laughed at.

So hahahahaha CookooForCocoaPuffs.