[Infowarrior] - Sophos: Web perils advise switch to Macs

[Richard Forno]

Web perils advise switch to Macs
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/5150508.stm

Security threats to PCs with Microsoft Windows have increased so much that
computer users should consider using a Mac, says a leading security firm.

Sophos security said that the 10 most commonly found pieces of malicious
software all targeted Windows machines.

In contrast, it said, none of the "malware" were capable of infecting the
Mac OS X operating system.

Microsoft has pledged that the latest version of its operating system, known
as Vista, will be its most secure yet.

"It is our goal to give PC users the control and confidence they need so
they can continue to get the most out of their PCs," a Microsoft
spokesperson said.

"Windows Vista contains a number of new safety features that, taken
together, are designed to make Windows PCs more secure and online
experiences safer."

Microsoft said that security on Vista would be an integral part of the
operating system rather than an add-on like in previous systems.

Top threats

The advice from Sophos was given as it released a report, detailing the
security threats posed to computers so far in 2006.

The report says that there has been a vast drop in malicious software like
viruses and worms.

    It seems likely that Macs will continue to be the safer place for
computer users for some time to come
Graham Cluley, Sophos
However, the company warns that there has been a sharp increase in the
number of Trojans. It said that 82% of new security threats this year were
from these programs.

Trojans are pieces of malicious software that are hidden in other legitimate
programs such as downloaded screensavers.

The Trojan may collect financial information or allow the infected computer
to be controlled remotely for sending spam or launching web attacks.

"The continuing rise of malware will concern many - the criminals
responsible are obviously making money from their code, otherwise they'd
give up the game," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at
Sophos.

Mac flaws

Although Trojans dominate the list of security threats, the most widespread
problem was the Sober-Z worm.

The worm, which was spread by e-mail, infected people's computers and tried
to turn off security settings. It replicated by looking for other e-mail
addresses on the computers' hard drives.

The worm infected computers running the Windows operating system, but was
not designed to infect Apple Macs.

"It seems likely that Macs will continue to be the safer place for computer
users for some time to come," said Mr Cluley.

"[That is] something that home users may wish to consider if they're
deliberating about the next computer they should purchase," he added.

Earlier this year, a security flaw in the way that Macs downloaded files was
identified; while three concept viruses and a worm written specifically for
Apple computers were also discovered.

The viruses were never released into the "wild" and posed little security
threat.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/technology/5150508.stm

Published: 2006/07/05 12:33:12 GMT