For years we have heard arguments that Mac is much more secure than Windows. While looking at the statistics of malware infections that comment is true the figures are not representative of the truth. Just because no one broke into my car last night doesn’t mean the Jeep I am renting is the safest car in the world. It just means no one tried last night. Recently a piece of malware was found to infect Mac computers. The infection was interesting from a security perspective because it didn’t require admin privileges to execute. That is pretty serious that someone figured that out. This exposes a huge hole in User Access Control on the MAC platform. My feeling is this is the first in a long line of attacks coming for the Mac. Once a major door is exposed it is easy for others to get on the bus.
Windows users are trained to be cautious on their computers. Mac users are much more free spirited in that they feel insulated from any attack. They think that it only happens to those Windows people over there. This is prime picking for an attacker.
I am sure people will say I am biased towards Windows and I am not. I believe all devices are at risk because all devices are made by humans. As the Apple brand grows and gains market share these attacks will increase rapidly. The risks will be great and the damage may be worse than Windows because they aren’t expecting it. Policies and controls need to be in place on any platform and in every vertical.