Flashback Malware Puts Apple in Security Spotlight: Experts Weigh In

Apr 13, 2012 08:00 pm | PC World
Increased market share coupled with Apple's lack of transparency are largely to blame for an uptick in Mac security problems, say experts.
by Howard Baldwin

It was a busy week for Apple malware hunters fighting the Flashback Trojan horse, which has infected between 270,000 and 600,000 Macs. A bevy of tools to find and remove the malware debuted this week. And two days after promising to release a detection and removal tool, Apple finally offered its own fix.

Now, as the dust settles on what is considered to be the largest Mac malware threat to date, experts have started pointing fingers at Apple as being partially to blame for the scope of the Flashback malware infection. They argue that if Apple were more transparent about security issues--and if it had promptly released a Flashback fix--the extent of the damage could have been smaller. Also contributing to the magnitude of the infections is a boost in the number of Mac OS users, they say.

"When the installed base [of an OS] is 10 percent or less, the bad guys don't care," says Peter James, spokesperson for Mac antivirus and security product vendor Intego. The bigger the user base, the more attractive the target, he says. Web analytics firm NetMarketShare.com estimates that the Mac installed base has jumped to 13 percent in the United States, and research firm Gartner says that Apple has become the fastest-growing U.S. computer maker--overtaking Acer and Toshiba--over the past year.

Apple's Image of Invulnerability--Gone

Perhaps surprisingly, James and other security experts say that Apple needs to look to Microsoft when it comes to handling OS security breaches. For years Apple has mocked Microsoft for its track record in dealing with Windows malware, viruses, and weekly patches. Now the tables have turned, says Larry Ponemon of the Ponemon Institute.

Ponemon and others say the Flashback Trojan horse is the final nail in the coffin for Apple's stellar security image. He says that although Microsoft juggles a much larger number of threats, it does a better job of warning customers and delivering fixes.

We have heard dire "Macpocalypse" warnings before. Last year Apple's sterling security image was tarnished with the advent of the Mac Defender malware program. Before that, in 2006, the focus was on the Leap.A virus, the first ever virus for Mac OS X. (For a great short history of Apple Mac malware, check out NakedSecurity.com's timeline from 1982 to 2010.) But this time, security experts insist, Apple's security bragging rights are gone for good.

NB : here i was, thinking the mac is impenetratable