Forwarded from: eric wolbrom, CISSP <eric shtech.net>
htt
p://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/5150508.stm
BBC News
5 July 2006
Security threats to PCs with Microsoft Windows have
increased so much
that computer users should consider using a Mac, says a
leading
security firm.
Sophos security said that the 10 most commonly found pieces
of
malicious software all targeted Windows machines.
In contrast, it said, none of the "malware" were
capable of infecting
the Mac OS X operating system.
Microsoft has pledged that the latest version of its
operating system,
known as Vista, will be its most secure yet.
"It is our goal to give PC users the control and
confidence they need
so they can continue to get the most out of their
PCs," a Microsoft
spokesperson said.
"Windows Vista contains a number of new safety
features that, taken
together, are designed to make Windows PCs more secure and
online
experiences safer."
Microsoft said that security on Vista would be an integral
part of the
operating system rather than an add-on like in previous
systems.
Top threats
The advice from Sophos was given as it released a report,
detailing
the security threats posed to computers so far in 2006.
The report says that there has been a vast drop in malicious
software
like viruses and worms.
However, the company warns that there has been a sharp
increase in the
number of Trojans. It said that 82% of new security threats
this year
were from these programs. Trojans are pieces of malicious
software
that are hidden in other legitimate programs such as
downloaded
screensavers.
The Trojan may collect financial information or allow the
infected
computer to be controlled remotely for sending spam or
launching web
attacks.
"The continuing rise of malware will concern many -
the criminals
responsible are obviously making money from their code,
otherwise
they'd give up the game," said Graham Cluley, senior
technology
consultant at Sophos.
Mac flaws
Although Trojans dominate the list of security threats, the
most
widespread problem was the Sober-Z worm.
The worm, which was spread by e-mail, infected people's
computers and
tried to turn off security settings. It replicated by
looking for
other e-mail addresses on the computers' hard drives.
At its peak, the worm accounted for one in every 13 e-mails
being
sent. The worm infected computers running the Windows
operating
system, but was not designed to infect Apple Macs.
"It seems likely that Macs will continue to be the
safer place for
computer users for some time to come," said Mr Cluley.
"[That is] something that home users may wish to
consider if they're
deliberating about the next computer they should
purchase," he added.
Earlier this year, a security flaw in the way that Macs
downloaded
files was identified; while three concept viruses and a worm
written
specifically for Apple computers were also discovered.
The viruses were never released into the "wild"
and posed little
security threat
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