Mac and Linux come under attack as the threat landscape shifts

> one would have to work REALLY hard to be that stupid on a Mac. It's easier to be that stupid on a Windows platform.

I submit that's mostly because there are SO many more opportunities for a user to be stupid on a Windows platform -- the vast, overwhelming majority of malware is directed at Windows users. My Windows users have to work hard to avoid the malware they are sent; my Mac users are sent relatively little and have to really try to be stupid, as you point out.

But you see, the Mac has an unfair advantage. Modern OS X is based closely on BSD Unix (via NeXTSTEP), and modern Windows is based philosophically on VMS (via NT). Both BSD and VMS were excellent, robust operating systems. But WinNT immediately suffered catastrophic damage (technically, not commercially) when it was required to incorporate MSDOS/Win95 models... it never recovered, technically, even though it went on to be the most commercially successful operating system in history (WinXP). Unfortunately, that irreparably damaged NT codebase is still the basis for Windows today.

Were it not for trying to look and act like MSDOS/Win95, I daresay WinNT could have fended off the challenge posed by OS X with regard to technical excellence and security. Instead, its commercially important reliance on compatibility with ancient MS-DOS and DOS-based Windows models doomed it to a perpetual second place technically. One cannot argue with its commercial success, but that doesn't imply technical goodness.

Anyone who doubts this description is welcome to interview the many excellent Microsoft technical leaders, project managers, and engineers who resigned over the years in (usually silent) protest over the release of version after horribly flawed version; Vista is the best known example but hardly the first or last. It's been very frustrating to me to watch so many talented people leave Microsoft; their products could have been so much better.

Apple, for all its idiosyncrasies and occasional mistakes, has always kept technical excellence at the top of the list, at the cost of market share. The quality and security of OS X comes from that quality-oriented attitude, layered over a fundamentally robust Unix base. An unfair advantage. :)

“The problem is, the most vulnerable part of a computer system is the USER — and until USERS get better at not being fools, ALL computers will be vulnerable.”

Now there’s a jingle that this sysadmin can appreciate!

You might be able to make the case for OS X’s vulnerability only because some Mac users really are people who want something that “just works” and have no understanding of how the operating system really works. (Ask me how I know: I work in a Mac shop.)

There are also many knowledgeable Mac users who are smart enough to avoid malware.

I think the average Linux user will be similarly amused as my other FRiends on here at Dr. Web’s attempt to suggest that people are still running a Telnet daemon. I mean, I’ve used the command-line Telnet client to test whether services are set up properly, but I can’t think of a reason why you’d run a Telnet daemon unless you were hosting a MUD or it was part of a consumer-grade Wi-Fi router.

Linux systems have been targeted by Linux.BackDoor.Fgt.1 which scans random IP addresses on the internet and launches a brute force attack in an attempt to establish a Telnet connection with their nodes. If successful, it commands the attacked host to download a special script. The malware’s command and control server stores versions for various Linux distros and versions allowing it to infect not only internet-connected servers and PCs running Linux, but also other devices, such as routers.

I'd like to point out that anyone who exposes a telnet daemon deserves anything that happens to them.

Telnet is a really powerful and useful network troubleshooting tool. The telnet daemon needs to just go away.

Mac vs PC vs Linux

Really? That dumb picture from you again? What century are you living in?

I respectfully beg to disagree, minnesota. And I do so from the position of know what i am talking about, which obviously you don't. Let me offer you some free education about modern Macs.

Do you seriously think your little joke picture is REALLY representative of the facts. No, Minnesota_bounc, the fact is my Mac can eat your Windows PCs and Linux (which is just a "clean room work-alike copy" of UNIX™) for lunch.

You see, my desktop OS X.10.1 Mac is running, RIGHT NOW (I just started them up to be truthful) four different versions of Microsoft Windows including XP, 7, 8, 8.1; two Linux versions, and a certified POSIX compliant UNIX™ (which is running all the time, as it is the underlying OS for everything), all simultaneously, in sandboxed Virtual Machines under OS X, all independently running, not emulations. I can also run iOS, Android, MS-DOS, ATARI-OS, AMIGA-OS, THEOS, and several other even more obscure operating systems on my Mac. . . can you do the same? I seriously doubt it.

All you have done is demonstrate your ignorance. That last picture representing Linux . . . well, UNIX™, the underlying operating system of the Mac, is the older, better, more mature, BIG BROTHER of that "unstoppable by any force if well cared for" Wolf. This Big Brother has been controlled, put under constraints, and tamed by Apple, but if you know how, you can unleash the beast. . . and it's not hard to do. Every user is only a couple of keystroke away from a powerful UNIX™ Terminal with which he can control everything about the computer with a command line interface. As such, it has become the best selling TradeMarked UNIX™ in the world. There are now over 1 billion devices using versions of Apple's UNIX in the market place.

If you truly think Macs are useless, as your snide, cute little picture claims, you might ask yourself why OS X Macs are the computer of choice for NASA engineers. . .

NASA's Jet Propulsion Labs Mars Curiosity Rover Design and Landing Team
Gosh, minnesota_bound, I see only two Windows PC computers in the entire room.

. . .which the engineers bought with their own money. So much for the "essentially useless" claim. . . or the "can't stand rough play" meme. Now, some on FR have claimed these Macs are not running Apple's operating system. . . so let's take a closer look to make sure they are:

Just so you don't think these Macs are running Linux or Windows, Yup! you can see they are running Apple OS X.

Must be bad to be so decidedly shot down. The next time you want to get a really useful computer, take a look at a Mac. Most computer programers are. It gives them the most bang for the buck in the number of platforms they can test for.

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