“The number of new viruses and worms aimed at Microsoft Corp.’s ubiquitous Windows operating system rose 400 percent between January and June from the same year-earlier period, computer security company Symantec said Sunday,” Reuters reports. “Nearly 5,000 new Windows viruses and worms were documented in the first half of the year, up from about 1,000 a year earlier, said Symantec, the world’s largest computer security company by revenue. The problem of computer viruses can be massive, overloading computers with messages, automatically rebooting systems and sometimes disabling them.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Windows-only users should be seriously concerned. The good news is that there is a much better way! Please read this article for more information: Wall Street Journal’s Mossberg: ‘The single most effective way to avoid viruses and spyware is to simply chuck Windows altogether and buy an Apple Macintosh’ – September 16, 2004
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Is Mac OS X really inherently more secure than Windows? – August 26, 2003
BusinessWeek’s Haddad gets it wrong; thinks low market share spares Macs from viruses – August 28, 2003
Shattering the Mac OS X ‘security through obscurity’ myth – August 28, 2003
Fortune columnist: ‘get a Mac’ to thwart viruses; right answer for the wrong reasons – September 02, 2003
Wall Street Journal’s Mossberg on making the switch from Windows to Mac – September 18, 2003
New York Times: Mac OS X ‘much more secure than Windows XP’ – September 18, 2003
Columnist tries the ‘security through obscurity’ myth to defend Windows vs. Macs on virus front – October 1, 2003
Gates: Windows ‘by far the most secure’ system; tries to use ‘Mac OS X secure through obscurity’ myth – January 27, 2004
Mac OS X has no viruses; what’s wrong with Windows? – February 11, 2004
SmartMoney: Long-suffering Windows users can only dare to dream of Mac’s ease-of-use – February 12, 2004
Spyware, adware plague Windows users online; Mac OS X users surf freely – April 19, 2004
Gartner: Worms jack up the total cost of Microsoft Windows – May 07, 2004
Windows ‘Scob’ virus designed to steal financial data, passwords; Macintosh unaffected – June 26, 2004
Tired of patching patches to patch Windows patches? Writer suggests getting a Mac – August 03, 2004
Mossberg: Dump your Windows machine and get an Apple Macintosh to free yourself of spyware – August 25, 2004
Millions of Windows PC’s hijacked by hackers, turned into zombies; Macintosh unaffected – September 08, 2004
Security is top priority in Apple’s Mac OS X – September 12, 2004
Windows XP worm speaks to users as it deletes their files; Macintosh unaffected – September 13, 2004
University of Chicago recommends all students patch Windows at least once a day – September 14, 2004
USA Today columinst angry about Windows viruses, adware, spyware – September 15, 2004
If anyone ever decides to buy a Mac, then you will get viruses, too. Security through obscurity. No one wants to write anything for 2% of the market, developers or virus writers.
Uh yeah, that’s it Jon E Wunnut. No hackers out there want to be the very first to create a virus on the Mac. No one wants to make the headlines. They just wanna follow along. That’s because only my sister and I own Macs. We are the only 2 left in the world….
There is just something, how do I put this politely…uh, STUPID about businesses (and everyone else) who continue to use Windows! Admittedly, some are changing. But, not enough. I still continue to hear people talk as though Macs don’t really exist as a serious alternative. IT people, of course. It’s their job.
“Be stupid. Help others to be the same.”
It’s their job description.
Jon, read the related articles, specifically this one:
New York Times: Mac OS X ‘much more secure than Windows XP’ – September 18, 2003
It explains why you’re dead wrong.
“If anyone ever decides to buy a Mac, then you will get viruses”
I have a mac, I don’t getviruses?????
I really love the the “only reason Microsoft gets viruses is because it has big marketshare” excuse.
Thats like saying the only reason Mercedes is a safer car is because there are less of them on the road, so therefore you are less likely to get into a crash.
Maybe it is true, but the way I see it is because my mac is one of the 2% marketshare and because NO ONE would bother writing a virus for it, and since windows advocates proudly claim that apple will never gain the market share to warrent a Mac OS X virus, means that I have to carry on computing without those added benefits of malware of spyware ;(
I guess I will just have to put up with being part of the minority, DAMN it sucks.
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”wink” style=”border:0;” />
Security through obscurity is a myth as The New York Times reported:
“That, as it turns out, is a myth, no matter who repeats it… Mac OS X and Linux [are] much more secure than Windows XP. For example:”
– “Windows comes with five of its ports open; Mac OS X comes with all of them shut and locked… These ports are precisely what permitted viruses like Blaster to infiltrate millions of PC�s. Microsoft says that it won�t have an opportunity to close these ports until the next version of Windows, which is a couple of years away.”
– “When a program tries to install itself in Mac OS X… a dialog box interrupts your work and asks you permission for that installation — in fact, requires your account password. Windows XP goes ahead and installs it, potentially without your awareness.”
– “Administrator accounts in Windows (and therefore viruses that exploit it) have access to all areas of the operating system. In Mac OS X, even an administrator can�t touch the files that drive the operating system itself. A Mac OS X virus (if there were such a thing) could theoretically wipe out all of your files, but wouldn�t be able to access anyone else�s stuff — and couldn�t touch the operating system itself.”
– “No Macintosh e-mail program automatically runs scripts that come attached to incoming messages, as Microsoft Outlook does.”
Pogue writes, “…the conclusion is clear: Linux and Mac OS X aren�t just more secure because fewer people use them. They�re also much harder to crack right out of the box.” Pogue also covers Windows virus programs and other reasons why Mac OS X is simply more secure than Windows. Full article here.
p.s. sorry for the really, really long sentence in my post above, hope it makes sense
I suggest this is a more comprehensive description of why Mac OS X’s security is so good.
A Simple Guide To Macintosh Security
http://www.informit.com/articles/article.asp?p=335882
I think Johnny One Nut is just yanking our chain.
Can you say … Micro$oft = Worlds Biggest Virus Magnet..
Always has been… Always will be..
Hey, SP2 slows down your XP computer so it has the time to fight off the viruses.
It makes a lot of malware, especially IE and Office for Windows almost stop in it’s tracks.
The reason there are no viruses for OS X is because it’s UNIX based. There, that’s the answer, and there are two reasons why no viruses will exist.
1. The people who write viruses are not stupid. On the contrary, they’re actually clever people who are misguided. But I bet a pound to a penny they use UNIX (or some flavour) as their OS of choice, so writing a virus for UNIX would be the equivalent of taking a dump on their doorstep. Windows as an OS is laughable. Yesterday I designed all the artwork for my friends new album in 5 hours. The same time, his crappy PC was sitting next to me being ‘quarantined’ from all the spyware, adware and all the other shit that PC’s collect on their daily venture into the online world.
2. UNIX is a hard beast to crack. People who say there are no viruses for UNIX are right, but that’s not to say people haven’t tried to create them. Truth is, it’s just too hard to write a virus for UNIX.
Add points 1 and 2 together and you’ll see why the true professional uses OS X. You can get things done in a fraction of the time and know your data is secure.
I am confused. Isn’t Windows a huge virus?
Windows is a popular commercial virus. IT IS NOT AN OPERATING SYSTEM. Hell, half the time it doesn’t even operate because of all the viruses and worms. It just makes me think that if there’s an equivalent of the financial disaster caused by the WTC collapse, it will be because corporations use Windows. The data doesn’t even need to be destroyed, just copied and used maliciously for blackmail, extortion, spam, whatever. For the interests of national and financial security, for pity’s sake, use Macs or at least Unix.
After reading about the MSfortunes (read as misfortunes) the windows users out there have had, and inexplicably, continue to have, I have come to the following conclusion:
Users of PCs with a Microsoft operating system installed anre the equivalents of masochists � no other reason why they would keep on doing this to themselves.
Microsoft completes the the S&M team by being a particularly nasty and sadistic Dominatrix who could not care less about anyone.
It almost reminds me of the movie cliche where an evil baddy developes a lethal virus, and then holds the world to ransom for the vaccine. Only, the evil one � in this case Microsoft � has lost control of the virus, and their vaccine is just not getting things right.
Aren’t we Apple-users fortunate that we did not drink from that particular well? I would give that a definite YES!!!!
So, to all the Macsters out there who watch their friends succumb to the deviousness that is Microsoft, all I can say is: Be there for them when the plague hits, and gently show them that there is a way to computing nirvana…
Longhorn is emasculated if not extinct. Internet Explorer should be renamed Internet Petri Dish. XP is lame and bleeding and quickly becoming functionally obsolete.
The only “innovative” software associated with Microsoft appears to be the viruses, worms, and Trojan horses that infect Windows PC’s regularly.
You guys are great. You are saying all the same things that Commodore and Amiga users were saying before their precious little toy companies went out of business like Apple will soon do.
umm … lets see. Apple was here before commodore and the amiga, and have been here for many years since their demise.
Precious little toy company? You think Apple is a little toy company? You are heavily mistaken. Apple makes a very powerful computer, with a very powerful OS. Learn the facts before you speak.
I love computers, especially creating graphic on them. But, I seriously believe I would not be so interested in it if I had to do it on anything but a Mac.
For art to be creative, it must be fun. MS Windows gets in the way too much for it to be fun. Imagine being a sculpture and having to spend more time on sharpening and repairing your tools than creating art. You become a professional blacksmith and not a professional sculpturer.
This is what is happening with MS Windows users; they know more about how to make their computer work rather than gaining further knowledge on their own interests. I am very sure a graphic artist on a Windows PC can tell you the 5 nearest places to get their computer fixed and 3 phone numbers for help, but are unable to list the 5 nearest art stores and probably doesn’t know any of their phone numbers.
Jon E Wunnut…
watch and learn …..
Ok, everyone here who uses a 64-bit computer… speak up…
and… all those present…. who dont worry about viruses, pop-ups..spyware and the like, ..
let this troll know it
Windows is a rotting corpse; millions of maggots crawl in through every orifice. It’s nature’s way of recycling material that has served its purpose and is of no further use in its original state. In this case, the raison d’etre of Windows is to vacuum up money from dickheads; once done, the maggots move in immediately.
Buy Windows once and it’s an understandable mistake. Buy it twice and you’re foolish. Buy it thrice and you’re a hopeless moron. Buy it four times and you’re a smart IT leech.
Top three computer companies in the world ship with Windows. How many ship with MacOS? One of the top 7? 2% of all computers? They do make the cutest little toys though. That new flat thingy will look great in Barbie’s townhouse, right next to the 8 track player.
Johnny 1-Nut and Friends:
I really hope that more Windows users share the same enthusiasm for Microsoft as you do.
This will ensure that Microsoft continues to have enough cash to pump out their Service Packs and issue and re-issue rumors of vaporware, allowing us Mac folks the pleasure of witnessing the continual saga of the Company whose motto is, “We’re the world’s answer – looking for a question.”
Johnny Boy:
When will Microsoft offer the first commercial release of it’s 64-bit OS with WinFS?
What do you like better, SP2’s improved security features or SP2’s slow down of XP?
People fail to realize that the Mac is responsible for 90% of the world’s creative market. Movies, music, design, magazines, books, advertising. Even though we may only have 3-5% market share, we’re that 3-5% that really drives the market and steadies the economy.
I’m not talking about grandma trying and failing every day to figure out email and calling home to complain to her grandkids about newfangled machines.
I’m talking about huge firms in Portland, New York, that do millions of dollars of work a month to provide your asses with special effects in the next big blockbuster movie.
Don’t you think shakin up that market a bit would be more of a publicity ride for hackers than hitting 10,000 grandmas with a worm?
I think so… face facts. The Mac is virus-free because it’s more secure, it’s more stable, and it’s more intelligent.
Period.
Like I said, why would some one want to write a virus to effect a couple hundred “special effects” people? Wow, that would make a great story: The special effects industry is crippled! The stock market is now in a tailspin? President Bush has declared a national disaster! All the artists have imploded from the horror!