Apple puts ego ahead of security

I read all of the blogs a-twitter the other day about Apple finally advising Mac users that they should use some anti-virus/malware product.  I thought it was a long time coming, but was glad Apple finally put the security of their users ahead of their marketing spin.  With the Mac gaining market share it is only reasonable that the threat of malware designed to exploit Macs would be greater.  In much the same way that Windows is a victim of its own success, the more people that use Macs, the bigger the prize for malware authors.  It has nothing to do with which is more secure or not.  Every OS is going to have holes that smart hackers can exploit.  Not having any anti-malware defenses in place is just arrogant.

So I was chagrined to read Preston Gralla's story in ComputerWorld today that Apple had pulled the knowledge base article that recommended Mac users install AV.  Though the Apple marketing guy seems to have given some sort of tacit recognition to using AV software, it is clear that Apple is still not comfortable and up front about the potential of Mac targeted attacks. 

I really think it is a case of their marketing ego being placed ahead of the security of their users. If their market share is going to continue to grow, the likelihood  of a Mac attack grows as well. I guess we will have to wait until the first bad one before Apple comes clean with their customers.

 

Note: Adam O'Donnell has a good article on this today at ZDNet here

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