How to end Windows malware nightmares: Get a Mac

20 years ago

“Increasingly, I’m hearing real discontent from the masses about Windows, and it doesn’t have much to do monopolistic practices, ripping off ideas or a lack of innovation,” Dwight Silverman reports for The Houston Chronicle. “It’s malware.”

Silverman reports, “I keep hearing this refrain from readers, callers to Technology Bytes (the KPFT radio show I co-host on Wednesday nights), friends and co-workers: ‘I’m sick and tired of all these viruses and spyware. I hear that’s not a problem on the Mac. I’m thinking of buying one.'”

Silverman reports, “In a report issued last week, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said Apple could increase the Mac’s market share by a percentage point by the end of 2007. The tech trade publication eWeek said the report cited Apple’s use of Intel processors, its success with the iPod and the release of Boot Camp, which lets Macintosh users switch between Windows and the Mac OS when their computers start up.”

“Most of this growth is in the consumer market, and it’s largely going to come from everyday users switching to Macs,” Silverman reports.

“I’m surprised that Munster does not mention frustration with Windows’ security issues as a driving factor in the Mac’s growth, because that’s the background hum I’m hearing most often,” Silverman reports.

Silverman reports, “And Apple and its fans are more than happy to play that card. Apple smartly created one of its clever ‘I’m a PC / I’m a Mac’ ads to address it, in which the ‘PC Guy’ is shown sneezing bleary-eyed from ‘that virus that’s going around.’ In the end, he says, ‘I think I’m going to crash’ and passes out, while the smug ‘Mac Guy’ says he’s not worried about viruses.”

MacDailyNews Take: People need to look up the definition of the word “smug.” Making a smart decision, explaining why you did, and showing the benefits you derive from it is not being smug. Apple’s ads aren’t smug, they’re public service announcements.

Silverman continues, “Microsoft’s answer to this is Windows Vista, which includes improved security features and roadblocks that, in theory, should get in the way of much of the malware currently out there. However, stupid user tricks are an integral cause of spyware/virus infection as anything, and Vista can only do so much to change the habits of computer owners.”

Silverman writes, “And, of course, users will have to upgrade to Vista or get it on new PCs to derive its benefits. But the hour is growing late, and when the time comes to do the latter, more are going to take the opportunity to switch to a Mac. They’ll do so out of frustration and disgust rather than take another chance with a Windows product. The ultimate nightmare for Microsoft would be if Vista doesn’t succeed at stopping viruses and spyware. Its executives should lie awake nights, worrying whether the next generation of malware will find holes in Vista similar to those that riddle Windows XP.”

Full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: Hey, did you hear the news about how Hackers are selling Windows Vista zero-day exploits? Microsoft executives, start your nightmares!

Ryan Naraine reports for eWeek, “Underground hackers are hawking zero-day exploits for Microsoft’s new Windows Vista operating system at $50,000 a pop, according to computer security researchers at Trend Micro.”

Naraine reports, “In an interview with eWEEK, Trend Micro’s chief technology officer, Raimund Genes, said prices for exploits for unpatched code execution flaws are in the $20,000 to $30,000 range, depending on the popularity of the software and the reliability of the attack code. Bots and Trojan downloaders that typically hijack Windows machines for use in spam-spewing botnets were being sold for about $5,000, Genes said. The Trend Micro discovery highlights the true financial value of software vulnerability information and serves as further confirmation that a lucrative underground market exists for exploit code targeting unpatched flaws.”

Full article here.

Of course, we already know that Microsoft’s Windows Vista is vulnerable to malware from 2004.

Apple ‘Get A Mac’ Viruses ad:

Apple: ‘Get a Mac. Say ‘Buh-Bye’ to viruses’ – June 01, 2006
Apple Macs and viruses: Fact vs. FUD – May 26, 2006
‘Mac security’ garbage reports continue to proliferate – May 10, 2006
ZDNet: Reduce OS X security threats – ignore security software – May 05, 2006
Unix expert: Mac OS X much more secure than Windows; recent Mac OS X security stories are media hype – May 03, 2006
Macs and viruses: the true story – May 02, 2006
Anti-Mac FUD machine shifts into overdrive – May 01, 2006
FUD Alert: Viruses don’t catch up to the Mac – May 01, 2006
BusinessWeek: Apple should hire security czar to combat uninformed media FUD – March 09, 2006
Spate of recent Mac security stories signal that Microsoft, others getting nervous – March 06, 2006
Mafiasoft: Microsoft to charge $50 per year for security service to protect Windows – February 07, 2006
Computer columnist: anti-virus software purely optional for Apple Macs, not so for Windows – November 01, 2005
Hackers already targeting viruses for Microsoft’s Windows Vista – August 04, 2005
16-percent of computer users are unaffected by viruses, malware because they use Apple Macs – June 15, 2005