Google abandons Windows for security reasons

[bascule]

Or should I say... dubious reasons?

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/d2f3f04e-6...44feab49a.html

“Many people have been moved away from [Windows] PCs, mostly towards Mac OS, following the China hacking attacks,” said another.

“Particularly since the China scare, a lot of people here are using Macs for security,” said one employee.

Now don't get me wrong... I love Mac OS X as a desktop operating system. I'm not really that big fan of Windows. But nowhere in that does security factor in. I generally recognize Windows 7 as much more secure than Mac OS X. And I would generally recognize Linux as the most securable of the three, which makes Mac OS X the least secure of the bunch. I use Mac OS X instead of Linux for the user experience, not security.

Seems like Google just painted a target on itself... hey China, hack our Macs!

So seriously... whaaaaaaaaaa?

[hexjunkie]

Re: Google abandons Windows for security reasons

I believe your order of security is correct but for different reasons,

There is a very nice guide (I believe written by apple) that lets you know the best steps to secure Mac OS X (its a few hundered pages) and is a very decent hardening guide to get started with. Most users however are the standard users which means they turn it on and go. They do not understand the differences in the operating system, or how to even lock down their own accounts, or even know where to find the terminal.

That being said windows users have generally been using them much much longer and know some of the ins and outs (still dont' know how to harden their own box)

Linux I consider a "geek" operating system as in the users have either had someone who is a linux lover install it (like a family member) or it is maintined by someone who enjoys computers and the linux operating system. Therefore they know some, NOT ALL, of the ways to secure the operating system. This being said I do find it generally more secure because the people installing and maintaining this OS delve further into their understanding of the operating system.

These ofcourse are generalized statements and as well all know, all blanket statemetns are not true.

[noid]

Re: Google abandons Windows for security reasons

s/security reasons/marketing reasons. Remember, they compete against one another and Google's got their own OS they putting out there..

What I got from this article is: we want to weaken Microsoft's market share by making people think that a giant company like Google abandoned it because its so insecure, but our own OS isn't up to snuff yet for us to roll the company on to, so we're just gonna take the OSX/Linux route for now and see what kind of damage we can do.

So I think the real question to be asking Google is why they can't eat their own dogfood

[bascule]

Re: Google abandons Windows for security reasons

I'm thinking of things like address randomization, which Windows and Linux both provide by default, and OS X does not.

[SHA-hi]

Re: Google abandons Windows for security reasons

Interesting, I never knew that a centralized server located in the US got hacked because team china wern't using mac books.

Hey that sounded like it sense made.

[hexjunkie]

Re: Google abandons Windows for security reasons

Update: From Microsoft Blog

The Windows Blog

As always they have to insert the "hacker" perspective by interviewing one guy(that came from about a month and a half before google made this statement), What's up Marc!

Marc Maiffret's Interview