
Apple is having its Microsoft moment - LaSombra
http://money.cnn.com/2015/06/05/technology/apple-bugs/index.html
======
bsaul
I remember a time when i didn't even have the time to patch a freshly
reinstalled windows 98 machine before a virus coming from my internet provider
network would scan and infect my computer. I had to find and install a patched
version of the OS right from the start.

Mac OS fortunately never had problems of this scale.

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walterbell
Remarkable to see this level of detail on CNN, rather than a tech-community
site.

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beyondcompute
Articles like that are needed to give Apple its wake-up call.

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MCRed
You mean pathologically dishonest?

Apple bashing has been going on for 30 years, and they aren't changing-- this
could have been written in the 1990s, and if you did the research you can find
dozens like it written then.

~~~
luso_brazilian
From the Time Inc. (former CNN Time Warner) domains alone:

1\. October 2006 - Hackers look to crack Mac [1]

"Apple computers have long been prized for being virus-free. But as more
people use Apple products, experts say the company is increasingly becoming a
target for cyber pranksters ..."

2\. April 2009 - Experts: Malicious program targets Macs [2]

"Mac computers are known for their near-immunity to malicious computer
programs that plague PCs. But that may be changing somewhat, according to
computer security researchers (...)"

3\. May 2011 - Is Mac under a virus attack? [3]

"Is Mac under a virus attack? No. But there’s some bad news rising on the
Apple malware front (...)"

4\. September 2012 - Malware attacks on the rise [4]

"Apple (AAPL) got a wake-up call in the second quarter. The company had
advertised that Macs didn't get viruses, but a virus called "Flashback"
changed all that (...)"

You will notice something in common in all those reports:

1\. "Oliver Friedrichs, director of security response at * Symantec, a leading
anti-virus software vendor _, said 72 vulnerabilities were discovered in the
Mac 's OS X operating system in 2006, up from 19 in 2004."

2\. "But blogs are buzzing this week about what _ two Symantec researchers *
have called the first harmful computer program to strike specifically at Mac."

3\. "According to a memo released Monday by the * computer security site
Intego * (...) (maker of Mac Internet Security, Antivirus for Mac)

4\. "Attacks that we've traditionally seen on PCs are now making their way to
other devices," said Vincent Weafer, * head of McAfee Labs * . "This report
highlights the need for protection on all devices that may be used to access
the Internet. (...)"

[1]
[http://edition.cnn.com/2006/TECH/ptech/10/20/apple.virus/ind...](http://edition.cnn.com/2006/TECH/ptech/10/20/apple.virus/index.html)

[2]
[http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/04/22/first.mac.botnet/inde...](http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/04/22/first.mac.botnet/index.html)

[3] [http://fortune.com/2011/05/04/is-mac-under-a-virus-
attack/](http://fortune.com/2011/05/04/is-mac-under-a-virus-attack/)

[4] [http://money.cnn.com/2012/09/04/technology/malware-cyber-
att...](http://money.cnn.com/2012/09/04/technology/malware-cyber-attacks/)

And, of course, on the linked article:

"So much for the argument 'Apple computers are safer and bug-free.' It's not
true. We're accustomed to annoying glitches in PCs. But the past few years
have shown that Macs, iPads and iPhones have them too. "

and

"They don't appear to have a regular patch schedule like Microsoft, nor do
they appear to patch continuously like Google does with Chrome," said Tod
Beardsley, a research manager at cybersecurity firm Rapid7.. "

of course with the link neatly placed on Rapid7.

~~~
MCRed
I think the part about patch schedules is hilarious. Apple is the one who,
before chrome existed and microsoft was anywhere close to doing it, set up
updates to happen automatically. Like years ahead. I think even before linux
got it. And yeah, they don't push security patches out on tuesday because they
don't have vulnerabilities every week.

It is a straight up lie to say they don't patch "continuously". They do this
both for the OS and for the Apps in the AppStore-- one of the advantages of
the AppStore is that if a vulnerability is found in one of your apps, the
developers can push out an update and it can get patched without you having to
even know it needs to be updated.

