An Apple a day keeps the malware away?

I had the pleasure of presenting at the Apple Store in London the other day. Now, most of the time when I present, I and the people I am talking with, start from the same standpoint: they have security issues and are looking for answers or reassurance. With the Apple users, there was, and is, a healthy dose of scepticism. So, coming from Symantec, I wasn’t really ‘singing to the choir’ with respect to my audience. Well, we all like a challenge.

In terms of the actual numbers of Mac specific malware, there is no doubt, there is an awful lot less. From that standpoint you are safer and there is a benefit. The game changer that Mac users need to be mindful of, is that bad guys are now attacking the individual and not the PC. Malware is morphing into crimeware. Increasingly, the attacks are financially motivated. This gives a simple focus for the bad guys. They care not for the merits of Windows versus or the Mac, or hold any particular view on Bill Gates or Steve Jobs: it is all about the money. We are seeing attacks, whereby, the code determines what OS or browser you have and then simply adjusts itself accordingly.

At the end of my pitch, some of the audience wandered up to ask some additional questions. They seemed assured in their investment in the Mac and respectful of the bigger picture that I shared with them. The questions they asked of me at the end were interesting and insightful. They tended to be about personal experiences of being phished, spammed or duped into visiting web sites etc. They are getting drawn into the world of malware and crimeware, albeit, from a different standpoint.

May 15, 2008 | Filed Under Events, Security 

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