Do you have OS X Mountain Lion? Have you noticed the increased security placed on it? It looks like Apple took a page from Microsoft’s book by enabling your device to check daily for security updates. This is opposed to the usual weekly updates that they used to do.
It seems like the update and installation will be automatic, too. You wouldn’t have to choose it because Apple has chosen it for you and will download and install it, regardless of what you are doing or where you are. We can only learn by experience if this will be a nuance or a welcomed addition, as users go by their daily tasks.
Apple also added for you the Gatekeeper. The Gatekeeper is supposed to act by preventing non certified Apple applications from entering your walled garden. This is to make sure that unsigned and potentially dangerous applications are kept at bay. Wait, potentially dangerous?
Apple has long touted that the MAC is a haven of security. No viruses, safe and secure computing, no fear. That has been a long standing argument that MAC users put forth in any MAC vs. PC wars that go around the net. It seems like they will now have to find new ammunition against the enemy as PC viruses DO exist now in a MAC environment.
MAC users are growing. Yes, GROWING. The allure of a safe computing environment and reported stability and durability of Apple computers brought about this change. Not to mention the status symbol that this particular piece of hardware brings you whenever people see you with it. Now that they have more users, hackers and no-good doers have even more incentive to actually prove a point that PC users were trying to make a long time ago. The MAC only had great security and lack of viruses because no one wants to build one for it yet, due to the lack of user base. The reason why Microsoft’s Windows always get attacked, is because they were used by a large number of people, and would yield the most profit in an attack.
Apple has now taken a humility pill by re-advertising the MAC as a unit “built for security” rather than saying “it doesn’t get PC viruses”. They have been proven wrong, and the MAC is no longer as secure as the users thought.
So there we have it, the MAC has taken more than a couple of pages from Microsoft to boost its security, in light of the now more frequent attacks against its users. The daily updates are now as much a nuance for MAC users, as it is for PC users.
Image sources: arstechnica.com, filecluster.com, cybernetnews.com
