Re: email virus/worm

[Hugh Haskell <hhaskell@MINDSPRING.COM>]

At 15:11 -0400 9/25/03, Edmiston, Mike wrote:
> If we all switched to Apples, then the virus writers would start
> writing worms and viruses that target Apples.  The only reason they
> don't do it now is because the Apple population is not high enough
> to make it worthwhile. So, if telling us we should switch to Apples
> to avoid viruses would actually convince most of us to do just that,
> then the advice would ultimately end up being wrong, and Apple users
> would start going through the same crap the rest of us go through to
> buy and maintain antivirus software, etc.
While it is true that Apple has been a small target, and increasing
its numbers would make it a more visible target, it doesn't follow
that it would make it a better target. Windows has been for years
known as a "virus magnet," easy to attack and able to suffer damaging
consequences. On the other hand, for technical reasons that I'm not
sure I understand (but others on this list do) the Mac OS is much
harder to attack. It seems not to be susceptible to the type of virus
attack (even if crafted for the Mac OS) for which Windows seems to be
a sitting duck. If that's true, then increasing the Mac numbers won't
necessarily make Mac users more vulnerable.

And as for Rick's comment, there's no accounting for taste.

Hugh
--

Hugh Haskell
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<mailto:hhaskell@mindspring.com>

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