A Farewell To Arms Races
By Simon Bisson & Mary Branscombe in Editorial
Posted in Security, Microsoft, Apple on
In the last three years, IT security issues haven’t changed that much - but perceptions might have. Trojans and worms might have taken over from viruses, but the problem is still a combination of security holes, social engineering and putting protection in the right place without destroying productivity.
We’re pleased to see Microsoft finally admit that, yes, Windows security could do with a helping hand. If you’re not running an anti-virus or anti-malware application you really don’t have any excuses any more. Microsoft Security Essentials isn’t a bells and whistles security package like McAfee or Norton, or even AVG. It is, to steal a cliche, what it is. And that’s an easy to download, quick to install, and simple to use anti-malware package.
MSE is also pleasantly processor friendly, with very little impact on performance - even on Atom netbooks. With low-powered devices increasingly common (and Windows 7 likely to be on of the main operating systems on the next generation of devices) it’s good to see a package that respects your CPU and still manages to keep you safe and secure. What Microsoft has learnt, and it’s something that other security vendors are also learning, is that the security you have is a lot better than no security at all. Sure some people want something that tells them every time there’s a possible threat, and that inspects every packet going in and out of a network connection - but what most people want (and what most people need) is a tool that just gives them enough protection to keep the most egregious malware away, blocking trojans and spyware, as well as keeping them safe from good old-fashioned viruses.
That’s what MSE is, and that’s all it is planned to be. It’s the tool I’d give my sweet white-haired retired-school teacher mother. And that’s probably the best recommendation you’d hear from me!
There’s only one place that security through obscurity works, and that’s in the criminal coding fraternity. If you use an OS that only another 5 people in the world use, it’s not worth the effort to hack into that OS. When Apple had 2% or 5% of the market, it could safely claim that Macs were more secure because they were less of a target and any security holes would get ignored by hackers. Hit enough market share and you have to get a bit more protection - especially as hackers target the apps that run on the platform and the Web pages users visit.
We’re glad to see that Apple has gone on a security hiring spree recently; security experts and cryptographers from companies like PGP and OLPC are now working on security at Apple. That doesn’t mean Macs and iPhones are instantly more secure than they were last week; but it does mean Apple isn’t sweeping the security problem under the keyboard any more.
And with this post it’s time to bid you all farewell. We’ve been writing this blog for the last three years, since the launch of IT Pro. All good things must come to an end, and it’s time for us to pack up our keyboards and ride off into the sunset. We’ve had fun writing here, and we hope you’ve had fun reading us.
–Mary and Simon
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