Windows and macOS from a security standpoint

[TheReal1980]

I personally run a small company and I use macOS. I run backup on a external HDD and make a bootable ISO on a external SSD (with Carbon Copy software) every week so that:

1. I have all files saved on the HDD.

2. I can boot from the external SSD if needed (thunderbolt 2).

 

I consider my "setup" to be pretty good in terms of backing up everything but after the latest "ransomware worm" that popped up not so long I am asking the question: Is it better to run macOS or Windows (with good software protection of course)?

 

I see Windows main problem to be that many people are using it thus making it more profitable for hackers and the more expensive Macs become the less prone they will be to attacks.

 

What are your thoughts?

[Master Disaster]

3 minutes ago, TheReal1980 said:

I personally run a small company and I use macOS. I run backup on a external HDD and make a bootable ISO on a external SSD (with Carbon Copy software) every week so that:

1. I have all files saved on the HDD.

2. I can boot from the external SSD if needed (thunderbolt 2).

 

I consider my "setup" to be pretty good in terms of backing up everything but after the latest "ransomware worm" that popped up not so long I am asking the question: Is it better to run macOS or Windows (with good software protection of course)?

 

I see Windows main problem to be that many people are using it thus making it more profitable for hackers and the more expensive Macs become the less prone they will be to attacks.

 

What are your thoughts?

My thoughts are I'll be surprised if this thread makes it past page 1....

 

Security by obscurity is no security at all.

[Master Disaster]

1 minute ago, Aleksiandrovich said:

This isn't Tech news, you posted in the wrong thread or didn't format properly being a quote, source and personal opinion on the article and or source.

This is general discussion?

[leadeater]

Thread Moved.

 

Advanced warning this is considered a flame war topic and is technically against the Community Standards, it's currently open for discussion but will be locked very quickly if required.

[leadeater]

1 minute ago, Master Disaster said:

This is general discussion?

Ninja move 

[Master Disaster]

1 minute ago, Aleksiandrovich said:

Oh.

No it isn-- Oh.

Yeah my bad (or not), I'm confused now...

[NLD1st]

25 minutes ago, Master Disaster said:

My thoughts are I'll be surprised if this thread makes it past page 1....

 

Security by obscurity is no security at all.

Agreed.

It just makes it less likely to be attacked on MacOS but as far as I know there is bad stuff for Mac out there. 

In a way a hacked could think: mac machines tend to be more expensive so the mac owners have more money so they are more likely to pay the ransom. 

 

I know this is generalising a lot but even hackers are biased. 

[keenhydra]

Isn't there a security program for Mac? Like McAfee or Kaspersky for windows? 

 

If you like working with Mac and it keeps on working for you I wouldn't suggest you change it. Just keep a backup offline somewhere, weekly backup onto a HDD and then put that thing on a shelf.

 

And I'm no security expert this is just my personal opinion

[leadeater]

3 minutes ago, keenhydra said:

Isn't there a security program for Mac? Like McAfee or Kaspersky for windows? 

There are, Symantec has Mac support. It used to be a total system performance killer though but it's much better now.

[SCHISCHKA]

youre not looking at the cause of the outbreak. NSA tools were leaked, it was reported poorly or people didnt care, people did not patch their systems. It doesnt matter if you are using windows, OSX, BSD, or Hannah Montana Linux. Sign up to security mailing lists or MacOS user groups and do not procrastinate on updating. Past major worm outbreaks have occurred after approx 30 days after MS releases a patch. This one was about two months after the patch. This is how quickly malware engineers work and its plenty of time for you spend some downtime to upgrade & reboot. Maybe CEOs can be educated about the support lifecycle of the entire software stack instead of spending millions on Windows XP and still be running it 17 years later, maybe I have wishy washy thinking.

[LAwLz]

You are less likely to get infected with malware if you use MacOS than if you use Windows.

[DocSwag]

If you ask me, the more secure os is probably

 

linux.

[Natsoup]

4 hours ago, Master Disaster said:

Security by obscurity is no security at all.

This is true in the long run, but for now I think OP is correct. Until MacOS is used more commonly it will remain less plagued by viruses and malware than Windows. Currently only ~10% of computers on the internet are MacOS based.

 

but for now:

52 minutes ago, DocSwag said:

If you ask me, the more secure os is probably

 

linux.

 

[samcool55]

Linux is IMO the best option here.

You can use a live-usb device so you can use it on whatever system you bump into and have all your files with you.

And it's free, so there's that.

[Sauron]

I wouldn't make a decision based on this particular topic. There are some macOS ransomwares too, and in general it's safe to assume no machine is 100% secure. Look at what works best for you (as a working environment and as an ecosystem for your office) and what gives you the best value (although I would assume you already own a mac if you are running macOS).

 

If file safety is a concern, I wouldn't use just an external hdd - they are fragile and prone to failure. Furthermore it's a good idea to have an off-site copy, so in the event of something catastrophic happening to your work site you won't lose the data.

[Mira Yurizaki]

A lot of the security problems in modern operating systems are due to PEBCAK.

 

Educate yourself first in what to do and not do while exploring the world wild internet.

[Terryv]

I agree with most of what's been said here.

 

I usually recommend a local backup in the form of am external HDD and an offsite backup with a NAS.

 

Stay away from suspicious web sites/e-mail.

 

Always, and I mean always patch your system whenever available.

 

Mac's in general are less vulnerable (debatable) because of their app store. Less sideloading of apps leads to greater security (usually). I've seen my share of macs loaded to the brim with malware just like Windows machines. Not doing stupid stuff is the best advice. You are only as secure as you want to be.

[demonix00]

9 hours ago, DocSwag said:

If you ask me, the more secure os is probably

 

linux.

Just like with mac, just because there aren't any viruses or malware for linux doesn't mean that nobody will start attacking it because a no security required will make these people rise to the challenge regardless of the size of the userbase (also isn't there already linux based malware in the wild from that linux mint hack a while back).

[DrMacintosh]

MacOS is more secure than Windows 10 because there are hardly and malware or viruses made for MacOS since the market share is so low. 

 

"Security by obscurity" is in fact security when it boils down to it. 

[confuded]

12 hours ago, keenhydra said:

Isn't there a security program for Mac? Like McAfee or Kaspersky for windows? 

 

The best and only security tools that I've found are from Objective-See.

He is a really chilled guy from Hawaii. I email him from time to time on security issues in OS X and some of his implementations.

[DocSwag]

1 hour ago, demonix00 said:

Just like with mac, just because there aren't any viruses or malware for linux doesn't mean that nobody will start attacking it because a no security required will make these people rise to the challenge regardless of the size of the userbase (also isn't there already linux based malware in the wild from that linux mint hack a while back).

Linux as a whole is a more secure operating system though.

[demonix00]

22 hours ago, DocSwag said:

Linux as a whole is a more secure operating system though.

O'rly

 

 

I would suggest listening to what is said and not the "demonstration" of wannacry running in linux.

[DocSwag]

7 minutes ago, demonix00 said:

O'rly

 

 

I would suggest listening to what is said and not the "demonstration" of wannacry running in linux.

Fair enough.

 

However, as a whole Linux is definitely more secure.

 

Yes, there are exploits and vulnerabilities, but what OS doesn't? Linux just has less, IMO.

[LAwLz]

15 minutes ago, demonix00 said:

I would suggest listening to what is said and not the "demonstration" of wannacry running in linux.

I recommend you listen to it too.

The video you linked does not disagree with the person you responded to.

[Builder]

The amount of attacks are directly proportional to the popularity of the platform. Additionally Microsoft was extremely cavalier about security for years and years but they've gotten a lot better in recent years. If you're running a Mac that is mission critical you should have at least three tiers of backup: bootable backups (ideally daily) with something like SuperDuper, continuous backups with Time Machine, and offsite backups to something like BackBlaze or CrashPlan.

 

There are definitely still fewer threats on macOS than Windows but this isn't necessarily because Mac security is inherently superior. It's pretty good, but the hierarchy these days for system security still goes

 

iOS (non-jailbroken) > ChromeOS (no chroot) > everything else