False insecurity
August 17th 02:18 PM
Consumer Reports has published a new report about internet security among consumers. One of the gists of the account is that Macs are still safer than Windows PC’s:
Macs are safer than Windows PCs for some online hazards. Only 20 percent of Mac owners surveyed reported detecting a virus in the past two years, compared with 66 percent of Windows PC owners.
What’s interesting is that every fifth Mac user in the USA has detected a virus even though there is not a single Mac virus out in the wild at the moment. The jury is still out on what viruses these guys have detected but I’m pretty sure it’s not a Mac virus. Polyconsumption, perhaps.
(via)
Mark,
You’re right. My point is that the report make the situation on OS X (every 5th Mac has been infected, yay!) sound a lot worse than it actually is. Unfortunately, the average reader probably have no idea that the virus those 20 percent have detected is not harmful to their Mac whatsoever.
It’s a report that contains statistics that are presented in a misleading manner. That’s about par for the course :-)