Lucky for Apple, there are several important safeties still in place
to delay malware for awhile longer.
First off, Microsoft created its own problems. Not only did
Microsoft leave the doors to the house open by turning on
unnecessary services and ports by default, it also made connections
to turn on software remotely so that once you broke into one program on
a computer, you could go from place to place until you took over
everything. This approach was fine for single use computers in a home
or business, but once we all got connected to the Internet the virus
writers found easy access. for years, Microsoft looked stupid for
trumpeting the closing of one door, only to find that two other doors
were being broken into.
Apple isn't stupid and saw what was going on. Apple made sure that
most services and ports are off by default. They also did a fair job of
not having too many services in one application start a service in
another automatically. There were mistakes, and Apple has worked to
correct these over time. QuickTime's autoplay a new
movie was one such connection that had to be changed.
Uniformity and Conformity
Microsoft, being a software company, pushed to have Microsoft brand
software running anything they thought was important, from the
operating system to the word processor to the browser. Their dominance
in multiple areas created a standard implementation and strategy that
work well for them to dominate the desktop computer.
Not content with the desktop, they pushed into the enterprise and
file server market. They ploughed down variety to put up their
standard. Smaller software players were allowed to develop those niche
areas too small for Microsoft to control.
Unfortunately for Microsoft, writers of malware took advantage of
this uniformity. A host of easy to use virus tools were created and
shared, and secrets passed around to many players. It was a software
business that Microsoft wasn't allowed to exploit. Steve Ballmer may
have cried when thinking about the lost revenue opportunity this
represented; instead Microsoft bought into
the virus protection racket.
Security Through Diversity
Apple's approach is different. Apple is a hardware company that
makes software to complement the equipment. So while Apple did develop
its own products, it pulled in plenty of open source and independent
developers. There are Apple standards, and for the products Apples
sells, few try to compete, but there is not the wholesale dominance
that Microsoft brought to the Windows computer. On my Macs, Apple
supplies the iLife programs, but I get word processing from Microsoft,
photo touch up from Adobe, and my browser of choice is Firefox.
The Microsoft hegemony isn't there for virus writers to exploit.
Most software exploits are designed for Microsoft products and not the
thousands of other software products that may be equally vulnerable.
The variety on Macs creates instant protection because a single tool
has limited scope.
There is also the issue of years of experience. Nimrods who have
never written a single line of code may think it's easy to port malware
from one operating system to another, but the devil is in the details.
A useful software exploit is all about the details. Besides, if
software was that easy to port, why haven't the game developers come
flocking to the Mac? If the Mac is growing in popularity enough to
attract malware, then where is the legitimate software business? There
is some, and it is growing, but there isn't a big explosion. Let's face
it; I am happy that these people stay away, especially as long as the
malware stays away with them.
The bottom line is that viruses on the Mac don't have the years of
opportunity and support that Microsoft unwittingly provided. Where
Microsoft has been a fertile jungle of growth for the malware vendors,
Apple is a sterile ground that, if a few weeds show, they have been
quickly pulled. No honest Mac user wants a single virus on the Mac. So
despite the knowledge, growing opportunity, and increasing popularity,
any development of viruses will take tons of work to get them to grow.
A possible outbreak will be limited and short-lived; Macs will remain
safe for awhile longer.
Security Experts Don't Get It
Security experts are constantly complaining that Apple doesn't do
nearly enough. They talk endless about how much better Microsoft is and
how Microsoft's response time is quicker. Of course they are right,
Microsoft has a garden full of weeds; if Microsoft is going to make
headway, it has to work twice as hard.
Apple's garden got a good start, with plenty of lessons learned from
Microsoft's mistakes. You can't fault the better gardener for spending
less time weeding and more on growing. Don't blame Apple and don't feel
sorry for Microsoft. Microsoft profited billion on its garden; if it
have to spend a little extra pulling weeds, fine.
There you have it, the secret behind why Macs are more secure. Apple
got off to a better start and does regular maintenance - call it
"security through good maintenance". No, it doesn't rhyme, and it isn't
mysterious, and no one has caught on, least of all the supposed
experts.
Let us Mac users raise a cheer to Microsoft: May you continue
supplying a cheap and inexpensive solutions for malware vendors
everywhere (for PCs only, of course).
