4 ms·

I don't think it can be worse than Windows. Not immune, but definitely not worse.

techrat 6y ago
Depends on how you want to set the goalposts. By version, MacOSX is faring worse. By total history despite a good chunk of old Windows malware not being net capable or able to run in current modes... perhaps. https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/2/12/21134681/mac-pc-virus-malware-malwarebytes https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/2/12/21134681/mac-pc-virus-m... Safety by virtue of running MacOSX isn't enough anymore. Not that I'd argue it ever was totally safe/enough in the first place. Bad habits are what subject one to attacks more than anything else... and that's basically what Apple cultivated in their users through ignorance of threat mechanisms.
- smoldesu 6y ago
  >Bad habits are what subject one to attacks more than anything else... and that's basically what Apple cultivated in their users through ignorance of threat mechanisms. This. 100 times this. The end user is the weakest link in your security chain, and the way Apple implements abstraction in MacOS makes it really difficult for the end user to understand what exactly they're doing, and what effect it has on their overall security.
- jolux 6y ago
  Most of the safety has always been in being a minority platform, and consequently I don't think the threat level has really changed all that much over the past ten years. Apple are really hitting the gas right now with their SIP work and the immutable OS volume and such.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
smoldesu 6y ago
Windows has a good handful of security vulnerabilities, but you'd be surprised by how few people actually "target" Windows devices. Windows still has accountability to their enterprise users, which means they spend most of their time mitigating the more serious stuff rather than some infected exe you'll find floating around the internet. MacOS and it's Unix heritage make it a pretty interesting case study for hackers, and while it may not have the perceived "hackability" of a Windows box, the severity of a MacOS exploit can vary greatly. Not to mention, Apple's reluctance to work with security researchers and opaque development cycle only make it harder for the end user to ascertain what impact MacOS has on their personal security. I use neither of these operating systems on a daily basis, but I think you'd be surprised by how secure Windows is these days. It's by no means perfect, but it does a pretty good job of staying secure, even as the #1 desktop operating system in the world. Now if only Microsoft could make a secure desktop that was any good... wishful thinking.
- jolux 6y ago
  >you'd be surprised by how few people actually "target" Windows devices What do you mean by this? As a percentage of malware it's not even close, Windows is far and away the most targeted platform: https://www.pcmag.com/news/windows-computers-account-for-83-of-all-malware-attacks-in-q1-2020 https://www.pcmag.com/news/windows-computers-account-for-83-...
  - smoldesu 6y ago
    It's also far and away the most used platform, so it should surprise nobody that it's the most targeted.
    - jolux 6y ago
      I'm not surprised, I'm just curious what you meant by saying I'd be surprised at how few people target it.
    - philistine 6y ago
      Android is way more common. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_operating_systems https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_operating_syste...
  - philistine 6y ago
    Wow. I would have expected Android to be so much higher. For all the poorest people in the world who never owned a computer and have Internet access through an Android device, this is a great statistic.
    - jolux 6y ago
      Phones are much more secure than desktops.
meibo 6y ago
Windows has a very good built-in antivirus now that protects you from pretty much all but 0-day vulnerabilities. Really I don't think you can draw any big comparisons here anymore nowadays - Apple's security on mac OS is sandboxing and signing, the latter of which power users will have turned off and the prior being inapplicable in this case.

Depends on how you want to set the goalposts. By version, MacOSX is faring worse. By total history despite a good chunk of old Windows malware not being net capable or able to run in current modes... perhaps. https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/2/12/21134681/mac-pc-virus-malware-malwarebytes https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/2/12/21134681/mac-pc-virus-m... Safety by virtue of running MacOSX isn't enough anymore. Not that I'd argue it ever was totally safe/enough in the first place. Bad habits are what subject one to attacks more than anything else... and that's basically what Apple cultivated in their users through ignorance of threat mechanisms.

smoldesu 6y ago
>Bad habits are what subject one to attacks more than anything else... and that's basically what Apple cultivated in their users through ignorance of threat mechanisms. This. 100 times this. The end user is the weakest link in your security chain, and the way Apple implements abstraction in MacOS makes it really difficult for the end user to understand what exactly they're doing, and what effect it has on their overall security.
jolux 6y ago
Most of the safety has always been in being a minority platform, and consequently I don't think the threat level has really changed all that much over the past ten years. Apple are really hitting the gas right now with their SIP work and the immutable OS volume and such.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

smoldesu 6y ago

Windows has a good handful of security vulnerabilities, but you'd be surprised by how few people actually "target" Windows devices. Windows still has accountability to their enterprise users, which means they spend most of their time mitigating the more serious stuff rather than some infected exe you'll find floating around the internet. MacOS and it's Unix heritage make it a pretty interesting case study for hackers, and while it may not have the perceived "hackability" of a Windows box, the severity of a MacOS exploit can vary greatly. Not to mention, Apple's reluctance to work with security researchers and opaque development cycle only make it harder for the end user to ascertain what impact MacOS has on their personal security. I use neither of these operating systems on a daily basis, but I think you'd be surprised by how secure Windows is these days. It's by no means perfect, but it does a pretty good job of staying secure, even as the #1 desktop operating system in the world. Now if only Microsoft could make a secure desktop that was any good... wishful thinking.

jolux 6y ago
>you'd be surprised by how few people actually "target" Windows devices What do you mean by this? As a percentage of malware it's not even close, Windows is far and away the most targeted platform: https://www.pcmag.com/news/windows-computers-account-for-83-of-all-malware-attacks-in-q1-2020 https://www.pcmag.com/news/windows-computers-account-for-83-...
- smoldesu 6y ago
  It's also far and away the most used platform, so it should surprise nobody that it's the most targeted.
  - jolux 6y ago
    I'm not surprised, I'm just curious what you meant by saying I'd be surprised at how few people target it.
  - philistine 6y ago
    Android is way more common. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_operating_systems https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_operating_syste...
- philistine 6y ago
  Wow. I would have expected Android to be so much higher. For all the poorest people in the world who never owned a computer and have Internet access through an Android device, this is a great statistic.
  - jolux 6y ago
    Phones are much more secure than desktops.

meibo 6y ago

Windows has a very good built-in antivirus now that protects you from pretty much all but 0-day vulnerabilities. Really I don't think you can draw any big comparisons here anymore nowadays - Apple's security on mac OS is sandboxing and signing, the latter of which power users will have turned off and the prior being inapplicable in this case.