February 2nd, 2007
An OS X zero-day group may clarify security debate
Maybe Apple doesn't have dominant market share in the PC market. Maybe Apple is basically a consumer electronics company these days. But there is one sign of Apple's influence in the PC industry–the company is increasingly becoming a security target.
Ryan Naraine reports that Landon Fuller, the guy behind the month of Apple fixes project, says Apple's OS X may warrant a Zero-day Emergency Response Team-like group. Just the fact that OS X may need such a group shows the company's clout.
And if Apple gains in the enterprise–my hunch is it just might–a ZERT-ish group may be necessary.
One benefit of a ZERT-like group is clear: A dedicated team tracking Apple flaws would offer critical data about whether OS X is truly more secure than alternatives. Additional data would clarify whether Apple has benefited from security by obscurity due to its small market share.
Fuller touches on this a bit.
“I’m interested to see the ramifications that it has on the overall Macintosh security debate, if any. In the community, I do think that there is often a general dismissiveness of security concerns. I think that’s very unfortunate, as these are very complex issues and I feel that they’re important enough to deserve a fair evaluation. The Mac has a great security track record, but I think there’s great value in asking “why?” he argued.
Great value indeed.
Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and Editorial Director of ZDNet sister site TechRepublic. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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