The Tipping Point…

One of the great things about shifting to the Intel Mac platform (for those of us that know) is not only the fascinating experience of a new Desktop Operating System that actually works (well… at least a lot more than what we were used to before), but the incredibly heady sensation of running no anti-spyware! Actually, most of us don’t run any anti-malware software… merely a fairly basic (but respectable) incoming firewall. Imagine having the whole processor (or multiple cores in many cases) at your disposal for once - ooooh ecstasy! And guess what… in the year that I’ve now been running OSX as my primary platform - I have had ZERO security incidents. Nope… not one. On my Windows machines, I’ve had a handful - and I must constantly be vigilant.

But this, of course, is NOT because OSX is inherently any more secure than Windows (or Linux for that matter)…

It is simply because the number of Macs percentage-wise is still too small to be economically attractive to hackers… but I suspect that may soon change. With articles like these floating around recently, you can judge for yourself:

Apple poised to become number three PC maker in US , Vista use grows as Mac OS X stays flat…Really? , Businesses having second thoughts about Vista

If you have read “The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference” (Malcolm Gladwell), you will understand that there is often a point, at which only a small change is required, in order for everything to change suddenly. I wonder what sort of additional growth in market share will need to happen for Apple, in order for the Mac to suddenly become a much more attractive target for malware? As soon as it does, any complacent Mac users are in BIG trouble.

So clearly, NOW is the time to start thinking about security. For example, make sure you always have the OSX Firewall on by default (under System Preferences, Sharing - Firewall Tab). Use a reasonable outgoing firewall (that doesn’t drive you insane with its alerts) or a program like Little Snitch (which apparently does). And start thinking about regularly using scanning software (there are a number of offerings on the market now). While no one can take away the intuitive design and usefulness of OSX, or the feeling of actually using a computer to ‘do things’ rather than simply keep the OS up to date - it is no panacea in terms of security. It is just a matter of time… quite possibly it has many as yet undiscovered vulnerabilities.

My hope is that actually, Apple is not too successful too soon - so we can live in our little ‘nirvana’ Mac worlds for just a little while longer… I rather suspect though, based on Apple’s current trajectory, that the dream is already over.

Originally from TechGripe! by Brett Ryland (9 August 2007).