Gartner came out the other day to tell us all that any security concerns associated with running Windows on the Intel Mac is crap. According to the analysis:
All users should ignore any hype about the possibility of exposing the Mac OS to more viruses or worms. The Mac software will be located on another partition within a different file system; thus, running Windows on a Mac will not expose the Mac software to more "malware."
Um... Wait a second... Didn't Gartner just tell us two weeks ago A) that spyware for the Mac was a veritable certainty and B) that it was possible to create a Mac-Windows hybrid worm? I mean doesn't the statement "it might be possible to create a hybrid worm that attacks both the Mac and Microsoft Windows operating systems" seem pretty unambiguous to you? Now the reverse is true? Alright, alright, I won't be a nudnick since these statements came from two different sides of the Gartner house...
But mixed messages aside - their first statement, while technically true, is sufficiently limited in scope and vague to be misinterpreted by the press - and "boy howdy" how it has been. Headlines like, "Boot Camp Will Not Expose Macs To Security Risks, Says Gartner", or "XP won't expose Macs to viruses, says Gartner: Boot Camp security risk is just hype…" seem to imply that there is no additional risk associated with dual-booting Windows. Is that really what Gartner said? Parse the statement carefully to see that the answer's "no".
They say: "expose the Mac software to more malware..." Mac Software only. That doesn't address what other aspects of the system other than Mac Apps may or may not be exposed to more malware. The Windows partition, for example, is exposed to the same amount of malware as it was before. True? Sure it is. Isn't Windows running on Apple hardware just as likely to get malware as Windows running on Dell hardware? So, while it's technically true that Mac apps are just as likely or unlikely to be a vector for attack as they ever were, the system as a whole is more likely to be comprimised than it was before BootCamp because of the fact that the attack surface has increased.
In other words, at the same time that Tom Ferris over at the Security-Protocols is posting his 7 new 0-day OS X bugs (no patches, no workarounds) that can be used to attack the Mac side of the host, the Windows side has all the same worms, viruses, and spyware that we already know and love.
So, who's the one "hyping"? The security community who's saying that the attack surface has increased on Mac or the press who's spinning what Gartner said into a "don't worry, be happy" mantra?
Posted by Ed at April 25, 2006 09:07 AM