Which is safer? Mac or PC

While the general preception is that Macs are safter than PC’s, when you look at the data, this may not be the case. Why then, are most virus attacks targeted at PC? Despite what the kids say, everyone does not have a Mac. In fact, Apple only has 10% of the market share. Although the iPhone and iPad are eating away at this percentage, Android has stopped this market share increase in it’s tracks. If you were a criminal, and you were going spend your time and resources creating a virus, would you create one targeted at 90% of the population, or just 10%? Mac safety is just a matter of math. They are not more secure, they just haven’t taken over enough of the market share to become a target…BUT…is that changing? With each iPad sold, the market share increases, as does the attraction to viruses. The Cyber crime trend is moving away from viruses and towards phishing and browser based attacks. This shift in method is not OS dependant, and opens up all users of computer technology to attack. PC users and Mac users are just as likely to open that questionable email attachment. Check out the info below from antivirus vendor ASET:

Mac users are vicims of cyber crimes just as often as PC users, there are just fewer Mac users. What is concerning, is the above demonstrated false of security. While most PC users are aware that they need to run anti-virus, anti-spy ware, and anti-phishing applications, Mac users are let acustomed to this practice. It looks like this may be a habit Mac users are going to want to get into.