On Computer Security…
MacWorld’s news service MacCentral had a couple of stories on it about Mac OS X security. One op-ed piece was by Charles Haddad in Business World Online who claimed that the reason there are few viruses for the Mac is because the Mac market is small and the Windows market so big. Another piece by David Zeiler (“The Mac Experience,” Baltimore Sun) contained reader responses to a previous article quoting a spokesman for an anti-virus software company named Sophos. The Sophos spokesman claimed that the Mac was not inherently any safer than the PC. Readers who are a lot more familiar with OS X code than I am (and really that includes almost everyone) stated it simply was not true and gave specifics why. That included a discussion about how insecure Outlook and Outlook Express are by design, which has me wondering about Entourage.
No matter whether the Mac’s inherent security is because the Mac’s market segment is so small or whether it’s because it is simply harder to code worms and viruses for OS X, I have to say it’s nice not to have to worry about it. Even when I used to retrieve my e-mail on my Windows’ machine, once I had the Macs on my network, I purposely downloaded my e-mail first to one of my Macs so I could examine their payloads. Once I found something suspicious, I simply deleted the suspect note from my mail server (using a webmail interface).
Most users whose machines get infected by a virus get there because they don’t take even the most basic steps to secure their machines. If you’re on a Windows PC and you either don’t have any anti-virus software or don’t have your anti-virus software scan your incoming e-mail, you’re a prime target. For Windows 98 and XP users, routinely using Windows Update is another way to keep your machine’s operating system up to date and free of security holes. Us Mac users also need to routinely use Software Update for the same reason. Even with all this, it is never a good idea to open attachments from folks you don’t know or open files ending with .bat, .pif, .exe, or .scr even if you do. Windows Outlook or Outlook Express users can make themselves even safer by turning off Preview and by applying the e-mail security patches for those applications. File swapping is another way to make yourself a prime target, as well using any kind of warez. And everybody needs some kind of firewall, even if you’re on dial-up using dynamic IP. Don’t believe me? Download one, install it on your machine, tell it to alert you when someone tries to intrude, and then log onto the Net during the wee hours of the morning and surf for an hour or two. You’ll be surprised at what happens.
If you’re on high-speed broadband and especially if you’re on a Mac, buying a router is one of the best investments you can make. Not only will the router handle all your sign-on duties, but most have pretty good hardware firewalls that will hide your computer from those baddies on the Net who are trying to find you. Some of them support Apple Talk, too. If you’ve been thinking about setting up a home network, consider the security improvement you will also get once you turn its firewall on and enable encryption, especially if you’re on wireless.
No matter whether the Mac’s inherent security is because the Mac’s market segment is so small or whether it’s because it is simply harder to code worms and viruses for OS X, I have to say it’s nice not to have to worry about it. Even when I used to retrieve my e-mail on my Windows’ machine, once I had the Macs on my network, I purposely downloaded my e-mail first to one of my Macs so I could examine their payloads. Once I found something suspicious, I simply deleted the suspect note from my mail server (using a webmail interface).
Most users whose machines get infected by a virus get there because they don’t take even the most basic steps to secure their machines. If you’re on a Windows PC and you either don’t have any anti-virus software or don’t have your anti-virus software scan your incoming e-mail, you’re a prime target. For Windows 98 and XP users, routinely using Windows Update is another way to keep your machine’s operating system up to date and free of security holes. Us Mac users also need to routinely use Software Update for the same reason. Even with all this, it is never a good idea to open attachments from folks you don’t know or open files ending with .bat, .pif, .exe, or .scr even if you do. Windows Outlook or Outlook Express users can make themselves even safer by turning off Preview and by applying the e-mail security patches for those applications. File swapping is another way to make yourself a prime target, as well using any kind of warez. And everybody needs some kind of firewall, even if you’re on dial-up using dynamic IP. Don’t believe me? Download one, install it on your machine, tell it to alert you when someone tries to intrude, and then log onto the Net during the wee hours of the morning and surf for an hour or two. You’ll be surprised at what happens.
If you’re on high-speed broadband and especially if you’re on a Mac, buying a router is one of the best investments you can make. Not only will the router handle all your sign-on duties, but most have pretty good hardware firewalls that will hide your computer from those baddies on the Net who are trying to find you. Some of them support Apple Talk, too. If you’ve been thinking about setting up a home network, consider the security improvement you will also get once you turn its firewall on and enable encryption, especially if you’re on wireless.
posted by Andy Foster at
3:23 AM
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