Mac fanatics: right or wrong?

Recently I read an article about a Symantec report suggesting that OS X will be prone to more attacks from malware authors in the future. "No big news there", I thought. At least I thought that until I read the follow-up article that suggested some Mac fans were personally incensed by this suggestion. "Strange that", thought I.

So over on my personal blog (forgive me this indulgence) I wrote this musing on this issue annd was going to leave it at that but then I realized that a) I don't allow comments on my blog so no one would be able to refute me, b) I was truly curious what other Mac users really think about this, outside the confines of a reporter's selective quoting and c) FA OSX is the perfect place for just such a discussion.

My original post in full:

Anyone who knows me knows I love the Mac. Hell, I own six of them. So it pains me when the truly rabid Mac fanatics knee-jerkingly attack anyone who claims the Mac is anything but the second coming of absolute technological perfection. And it's happening again in response to Symantec's assertion that the Mac's growing popularity as a consumer platform will make it an increased target for hackers and malware (OSX 'at risk from attack'):

In its seventh bi-annual Internet Security Threat Report, Symantec said over the past year, security researchers had discovered at least 37 serious vulnerabilities in the Mac OS X system. According to Symantec, as Apple increases its market share — with new low cost products such as the Mac mini — its userbase is likely to come under increasing attack.

"Contrary to popular belief, the Macintosh operating system has not always been a safe haven from malicious code," Symantec said. "Out of the public eye for some time, it is now clear that the Mac OS is increasingly becoming a target for the malicious activity that is more commonly associated with Microsoft and various Unix-based operating systems," the report said.

Evidently this position is bringing them heaps of scorn and abuse (Security Outrage at Symantec's OS X claims) as Mac users leap to "protect" their platform with a veritable onslaugh of no-facts:

"What a load of FUD," said one anonymous IT manager. "Anyone with the smallest sense of knowledge about any of these operating systems knows that the biggest issue with Windows security is the basic design flaws that it keeps dragging on from its past eras, to ensure compatibility."

True, and absolutely of no relevance to the Mac. Mac security does not enjoy an inverse relationship to Windows security but I like the deftness with which this poster managed to slip into the Windows bashing.

But any idiot can see that an OS which requires [a] root password before installing any software is inherently going to stop more viruses than an OS like Windows which doesn't. Grow up and quit whining."

Actually this idiot (me) doesn't see that since the default install for OS X gives the initial user Admin privs and plenty can be done to compromise the system with those, including turning it into an open mail relay or ftp server. Granted it's nigh impossible to exploit the OS in this this way automatically but tricking people into installing software is pretty damned trivial.

Extra points for slipping in the unconnected Windows bashing at the end, and a personal insult towards the original article's author.

Here's my take: OS X lacks the inherent design flaws that make Windows so dead easy to compromise, it's true. So does Linux. So what? As the Mac grows in popularity the same script-kiddie tricks that work against Windows won't be usable against the Mac but that doesn't mean that jackasses won't pioneer new and better ways.

This head-in-the-sand superiority isn't protection and doesn't make the platform any safer. To those Mac users who continue to spout it I have two words for you: Maginot Line.

We Mac users are an opinionated and intelligent bunch so please weigh in. What do you think the future of Mac security holds?