Mac security and myths

The news Mac Internet use has doubled in the US has been greeted with all sorts of comment.
In my view, this is because it's dawning on consumers just how vulnerable Windows users are to malware. Consumers want reliable computing and don't want their banking details going to a Moscow crime ring. Apple Mac offer that security.

But it's interesting to see the myths continue. Adrian Kingsley-Hughes in ZDNet offers the old chestnut that, that Macs have only avoided the malware deluge because they have a smaller market share.

With all due respect to Adrian, that's nonsense. The Mac is more secure simple because the system is better protected from the actions of users and the websites they visit.

The problem is that most Windows users run as administrators, which means they have full control over the operating system. The equivalent on the Mac is a root user. I have no doubt if you ran as the root user for a month on a Mac you'd be hopeless compromised as well.

The fact is Macs and Linux systems are currently more secure and more reliable than Windows machines. With increasing publicity of the risks of compromised computers, consumers and business want equipment that is secure and reliable.

One thing that does concern me about the Apple zealots is another group of myths along the lines that "Apple's don't crash, are bug free and don't lose data."

That's silly. All computers have bugs and crash. Sometime in your computing life you will lose data and it doesn't matter what operating system you use. That's why you need to back up and take basic security and data protection seriously.

Computers are tools to do a job. If the job you want your computer to do involves security then right now a Mac may well be the proper tool for the job.