If you think that your Mac computer comes with the most advanced security options and prevention strategies, then probably you are living in an unreal world. The Apple product isn’t safe anymore, as underlined in our previous posts. And according to Eugene Kaspersky, CEO of Kaspersky, Apple is 10 years behind Microsoft in terms of security.
This may come as a jolt to many Mac users who look upon Windows as an inferior product. “Welcome to Microsoft’s world”, says Eugene. “The recent Flashback/Flashfake malware outbreak targeting Apple’s Mac computers is likely to be just the start of a new wave of attacks aimed at the system”.
After the success of the Flashback Trojan which infected more than 60,000 Mac computers, this territory has turned out to be interesting for attackers and there may be even more attacks with increased force and vulnerability and Apple may have to resort to security measures which Microsoft adopted ten years ago. There is already an increased account of malware targeted for Mac computers, of whom 4 million units have been sold this quarter, a rise of 7% from the year-ago quarter.
Speaking to CBR at Info Security 2012, Eugene Kaspersky notes:
They (Apple) will understand very soon that they have the same problems Microsoft had ten or 12 years ago. They will have to make changes in terms of the cycle of updates and so on and will be forced to invest more into their security audits for the software. That’s what Microsoft did in the past after so many incidents like Blaster and the more complicated worms that infected millions of computers in a short time. They had to do a lot of work to check the code to find mistakes and vulnerabilities. Now it’s time for Apple [to do that].
Due to increased threats, Kaspersky expects Apple to change its approach in protecting users against malware having previously criticized Apple for leaving users vulnerable to without any important security patch or updates for three months.
According to Kaspersky, Apple is now experiencing what Microsoft had done with in the past, thus underlining the point that Microsoft is far ahead compared to Apple when there is talk about user security. And with the release of Windows 8 looming, which comes with many advanced features especially with security point of view, Microsoft may just have edged past its competitor.
Long way to catch up, Apple!
This is because for the last 10 years there have been very few instances of malware on the Mac platform. Guess what, malware is increasing in OSX because more and more folks are buying/using Apple products. So while Windows has been the platform of choice for malware authors in the past, they are now starting to focus on OSX. I personally do not see how this article is something that Microsoft should want to brag about. Kaspersky just wants to drum up business from the growing number of folks using Apple computers, as that is their largest untapped potential customer base. Perhaps the author likes to partake of the Microsoft Kool-Aid, but I will pass.
I trust Kapersky. Their security solutions are top notch/best rated.