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Could a security expert enlighten me: is Windows more secure today than macOS, if we purely take OS-level and hardware-level security measures and ignore subjec
by concinds 4y ago
Could a security expert enlighten me: is Windows more secure today than macOS, if we purely take OS-level and hardware-level security measures and ignore subjective factors? (like marketshare, attractiveness of targets, etc.)
Windows has all sorts of buzzwordy-sounding security features: Microsoft Defender Application Guard (Hyper-V for untrusted websites & Office files), kernel virtualization-based security (VBS), Code Integrity Guard, Arbitrary Code Guard, Control Flow Guard, and Hardware-enforced Stack Protection.
It's extremely hard to compare the two on a deep technical level (beyond "modern OS's are safe, install updates, you'll be fine") without having deep security experience. Any professional insights?
- Veserv 4y agoThere is no meaningful difference if you are a modestly attractive target. The prevailing level of security is such that a single technically competent individual with a year of time can completely breach the commercial IT systems of any Fortune 500 company in the world and steal essentially all of their internal documents and IP and materially disrupt their operations. That is the maximum level of security in commercial IT systems. So, if you have nothing worth more than ~$1M and indefinite disruption of your systems is worth less than ~$1M, then there might be a meaningful difference. However, basically every business is beyond those levels, so quantifying the differences in a professional context is kind of like discussing whether a tshirt or a single piece of paper provides more protection against a gun.