SPMUG 623 Macs and PCs - how secure are they?
By Bill Husted The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

I had an e-mail the other day from a reader who wondered if it was
worthwhile to use a firewall on a Mac or install anti-virus protection.

I told him that Macs seemed less vulnerable than PCs, especially to
viruses but that - for my money - it made good sense to add anti-virus
protection and to use a firewall. As far as I know, Macs really are much
less likely to be hit with a virus attack. For one thing, there are
fewer viruses that are built to take on Macs. For another, the Mac OS
really does seem more secure.

That's why this article caught my eye. It's From Computer World. It is
an interview in question and answer format with the fellow who won
$10,000 in a contest to hack into a Mac.

It was especially interesting to me - buried about halfway down the
interview - that the guy expressed the opinion that Macs are actually
less secure (we aren't talking about viruses here, instead the relative
ease of breaking through the operating system's safeguards) than PCs
running Vista. Me? I don't know whether he's right or not but it did
strike me as interesting.

And - whether this guy is right or wrong - it just makes common sense to
protect a computer, any computer, as best your can. The data stored on
that computer can really harm you if someone else gets it. Even virus
protection makes sense Š after all, since so many Macs are unprotected,
a successful virus attack could really create problems. Why take even a
small chance.