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Still, all operating systems have vulnerabilities, including OS X. Like Microsoft, Apple issues a monthly set of security patches to plug the holes. The big difference is that actual exploits of Mac vulnerabilities have been extremely rare, and that suggests a lack of interest by attackers. A few years ago, OS X probably would have come under attack just for the challenge of it. But all the evidence suggests that these days, the ablest writers of viruses, spyware, and worms, are motivated more by profit than glory, and Windows, with 90%-plus of the market, is where the money is.

That about sums it up.

That about sums it up.

Hey, welcome back! Good to see you.

However, the falacy in this "summing up" is this erroneous statement and conclusion:

The big difference is that actual exploits of Mac vulnerabilities have been extremely rare, and that suggests a lack of interest by attackers.

The fact is that, discounting two trojan programs that hit a couple of greedy Mac users who thought the 300K file they downloaded, installed and executed was a pirated version of Office for Mac, the "actual exploits" are non-existent. A couple of proofs of concept that demonstrated some possible vulnerabilities that were closed within a couple of weeks of exposure, like "Opener" or "renepo", might be added to the list but they were not "actual exploits".

...and Windows, with 90%-plus of the market, is where the money is.

Money. They say that Money is the root of all evil. Think about the lure of 17,000,000 to 25,000,000 TOTALLY UNPROTECTED Mac users out there (who obviously have more money than sense according to PC users because they buy expensive Macs) who are vulnerable to a new viruses and spyware that could steal their identity information... and it hasn't happened. Gee... I wonder why not.

From the article:

Still, all operating systems have vulnerabilities, including OS X. Like Microsoft, Apple issues a monthly set of security patches to plug the holes. The big difference is that actual exploits of Mac vulnerabilities have been extremely rare, and that suggests a lack of interest by attackers. A few years ago, OS X probably would have come under attack just for the challenge of it. But all the evidence suggests that these days, the ablest writers of viruses, spyware, and worms, are motivated more by profit than glory, and Windows, with 90%-plus of the market, is where the money is.

Bush2000: That about sums it up.

Hi, again, Bush. I just found this article ... a response to the Business Week (and Windows apologists, such as you) from MacDailyNews:

MacDailyNews Take: According to Apple, there are "close to 16 million Mac OS X users" in the world and there are still zero (0) viruses. Zero. According to CNET, the Windows Vista Beta was released "to about 10,000 testers" at the time the first Windows Vista virus arrived.
Those who surf the Web using a Mac tend to be better educated and make more money than their PC-using counterparts, according to a report from Nielsen/NetRatings. - CNET News.
Using Wildstrom's "logic:" Virus writers are motivated by profit, so they attack those who surf the Web using Windows because they tend to be less educated and make less money than their Mac-using counterparts. If profit is the motivator, wouldn't it make more sense to try to steal from those with the most money? Or perhaps, it's too hard and they can't get into Mac OS X user's machines at all?
Using common sense, there should be a least one virus in the over 5 years since Mac OS X was released, shouldn't there? But, there is not one Mac OS X virus. Where is it? The reason why has so much more to do with inherent security than anything else, that to continue to try to equate "security via obscurity" (for an OS that, by the way, isn't "obscure") with the inherent security built into Mac OS X, is ridiculous. The New York Times' David Pogue once tried the Mac OS X "security via obscurity" myth on for size. It didn't fit. Pogue thought about it and quickly recanted. (Read Pogue's simple explanation why Mac OS X much more secure than Windows XP here.)
People who propagate the "Mac OS X is secure because it's obscure" myth are either not thinking the issue through completely or are Microsoft apologists. Apple Mac OS X is vastly better than Windows at protecting its users from malicious attacks. Mac OS X is so much better, in fact, that it's literally a joke to write lines like, "still, all operating systems have vulnerabilities, including OS X. Like Microsoft, Apple issues a monthly set of security patches to plug the holes." Those words suggest that Wildstrom thinks Mac OS X would be as prone to viruses, spyware, adware, etc. as Windows, if only it had "90%-plus of the market." (Windows doesn't have "90%-plus of the market," by the way.) Mac OS X would not be as vulnerable to viruses, worms, spyware, etc. as Windows if it had Windows' installed base. Not even close.
Windows was not designed for open networks like the Internet. Microsoft could never say no to backwards compatibility and now have an OS in the hands of millions of interconnected people that wasn't designed to be secure when interconnected. Microsoft has been promising better security for years with each successive Windows packaging change. If you think Windows Vista is going to magically fix the problems, we've got a nice bridge in Brooklyn for you on sale at eBay now.
Note to all of you "security via obscruity" types: please stop insulting Apple Mac OS X's (and NeXT's and decades of Unix's) brilliant operating system designers while simultaneously trying to cover for Microsoft's ineptness. The reason that Mac OS X users surf the Web with impunity is because of the secure way Mac OS X is designed, not because it's "obscure." What kind product that 16 million people use daily is "obscure"? Your argument is as flawed as Windows. 16 million people use Mac OS X daily and it's never had one single virus in over 5 years. Let's get serious. Mac OS X not secure because it's obscure, it's just better.

Now that REALLY sums it up.

In fact, it does such a good job that I am going to PING the Mac List to this thread again...

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