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Mac Users Blast Symantec ... Again

Posted by Hemos on from the tide-goes-in-tide-goes-out dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Once again Symantec has spouted FUD about Mac OS X ... perhaps in an attempt to make more money as Microsoft pushes its own security products? A commentary on the issue entitled "Symantec 'scare tactics' don't rattle Mac users" says Symantec's latest Internet Security Threat Report continues to voice concern for the security and stability of the Mac operating system, Mac OS X in particular. However, there isn't proper evidence to back this claim. Also from the story, readers are asked: Do Mac users think they are immune to security problems or is Symantec and others fishing for a new revenue stream? Do you think Apple should start following Microsoft's model by rating vulnerabilities and patches?"

4 of 141 comments (clear)

  1. It's not about immunity, it's about vulnerability by amichalo · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Symantec is trying to sell a product that doesn't really apply in the Linux/OS X environments.

    I'm not saying Viri and Worms don't or couldn't exist on a *nix platform. What I am saying is that security patches are released within the same timeframes as virus updates, so why not just set your box to auto-update those patches and skip the Anti-virus software route all together?

    On other vendor's platforms, there are both a greater frequency of attacks and longer delays between patches (probably due to the shear number) so Anti-virus software serves a market there.

    So it isn't hubris that the Linux and OS X are imune, it is that the OSS community and Apple work quickly to patch any vulnerability ASAP.

    --
    I only came here to do two things; kick some ass, and drink some beer...looks like we're almost out of beer.
  2. Re:psymantec by phillymjs · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Anyway... the only real market I see for symantec for OSX users is system diagnostics and filesystem repair.

    Too bad they gave up on that market by killing Norton Utilities for Mac a couple years ago. Of course, that product peaked at version 6 and started stinking up the place after that. IIRC, it was never updated for OS X, either-- the most they did with it was make it OS X aware, so it wouldn't screw something up while trying to "fix" something that OS X needed a certain way.

    Pity, that. I used to swear by NUM back in the day. These days, I rely on Cocktail, DiskWarrior, and Data Rescue X. Not that I need them very often.

    ~Philly

  3. Nothing stopps Spyware Authors by Darius+Jedburgh · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Clearly something does stop Spyware authors, otherwise Mac users would be complaining about spyware.

  4. And the solution is? by mlewan · · Score: 5, Interesting
    It is not difficult to see that there may be security holes in MacOS X that can be exploited. It is not difficult to see that one should try to protect oneself against exploits.

    However, why on earth would one think that Symantec is the solution to the problem? If there is a known problem, Apple will patch it. If it is an unknown problem, Symantec cannot fix it.