“eWeek writer Paul F. Roberts’ piece on the Mac looks like a detailed article on potential security exploits which may be uncovered with the Mac’s switch to Intel chips. It’s not. Since Mac users will be quick to point out the error of his fiction, eWeek will generate a lot of hits to their web site. More hits, more ad impressions, more revenue,” Tera Patricks writes for Mac360. “Enough with the fiction already. Mac users know better.”
“The very first sentence of the article says Intel Macs ‘could open the door’ to more attacks against Mac OS X. I’ll buy that but not worry about it, because ‘could’ is probably correct. Sales of Macs will continue to increase, market share will continue to increase, so, hey, it “could” happen.” Then Roberts follows up the first step down the Fiction Parade route with: ‘The shift to Intel processors from the Motorola Power PC processors will make it easier to create software exploits for Macintosh systems, and could result in a steady stream of Mac exploits in years to come,'” Patricks writes. “It ‘will’ make it easier? Ok, how about some proof. eWeek did interviews about the so-called mounting ‘pressure’ on Apple to build security measures into Mac OS X. The implication in that line is that OS X does not currently have security features.”
“That’s bad journalism, poor writing, and factually wrong,” Patricks writes. “While Apple thoughtfully declined an interview with eWeek (see! The folks at Apple are smart; don’t feed the literary monkeys), they did say, ‘the security technologies and processes that have made Mac OS X secure for PowerPC remain the same for Intel-based Macs.’ Let’s recap. eWeeks says Apple doesn’t have security features in OS X. Apple says they do. Mac OS X has no viruses, no trojan horses, and no spyware exploits despite being on the market for five years and with tens of millions of customers,” Patricks writes. “Don’t misunderstand my perspective or history. I know that ALL operating systems have exploits and security issues. All. Some are well known, some haven’t been found yet, some are used to mess up your computer. The real issue is, ‘does it happen often enough to be an issue of concern?’ The answer is, YES. For Windows. No, for Linux on Intel. No for Mac on PPC, and no (so far) for Mac on Intel. When it happens, we’ll hear about it. For now, those hackers have much more fun chewing through Windows Swiss Cheese XP SP 42.”
Full article here.
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