Panda Security Insight

On several occasions I have spoken on this blog and in interviews about our take on IT threats for Mac. There is a widely held view that Mac users are in no danger, as viruses are only designed for Windows platforms and because the Mac operating system is more secure than Windows. The truth is that there are viruses that operate in the Mac environments. The difference lies in the amount of malware circulating in comparison with threats designed for Windows. The explanation is simple: If you are a cyber-crook trying to profit from your activity and you want to infect as many victims as possible, what is the ideal target? A platform with 100 million users or one with 1000 million? The answer is obvious.

I’m also convinced that as the number of Mac users increases and as it reaches a significant market share, hackers will begin to find an inviting breeding ground for distributing their infections. I would go so far as to say that they will find victims unprepared, precisely thanks to the false sense of security that Mac users have. Therefore, when this happens, the situation could well bring back memories of some of the notorious epidemics such as Nimda or Sircam.  And regardless of any presumed absence of viruses, Mac users are just as vulnerable to spam and phishing.

In any event, it is important to underline that although there may be less malware designed specifically for Mac, and the chances of infection may be lower, this has no bearing on whether Mac users are contributing (knowingly or unknowingly) to the propagation of IT threats.  Perhaps unwittingly, many of them will be infecting Windows users connected across various channels (email, social networks, etc.). We should also bear in mind that Mac users often have Windows installed on separate partitions, or distributions that allow them to share files with Windows, and that it is practically essential to have an antivirus installed on these partitions.

In our business, we would say this is another infection vector. There are a couple of scenarios that illustrate well the reality of malware distribution in these environments: the exchange of information via USB devices (pen drives, hard disks, cell phones…) which are connected to both Mac and Windows systems, on the one hand, and on the other, Mac codecs, which are becoming a popular trend for hiding malware. These situations are just an example, but if we stop to think, there are many cases where using a Mac platform without protection is a risk for the users themselves and for others that come into contact with them.

Finally, regarding the myth that the Apple operating system is more secure than Windows … we’ll talk about that another day: -)

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Traditionally, at Panda Security our technological innovation has set us apart from our competitors and has been the cornerstone for our competitiveness. Throughout our 20-year history, we have reinvested 30% of our turnover in innovation, and this has made us a company that commands wide respect among users, the industry, analysts, opinion leaders, etc.

It’s no easy task to base the culture of a company on radical innovation, as it requires having a series of determining factors in place in the corporate environment, or, if they don’t exist, creating the necessary framework. Such experiences vary in line with the country in which the company operates: In countries where there is a strong technological tradition along with governmental understanding and support for innovation, any company that undertakes these activities with intelligence will probably be successful. In countries without such a technological tradition (as is the case in Spain), this task can become more complex, although, as demonstrated by Panda, it is still possible to succeed.

The human assets of a company represent the cornerstone for successful innovation. They must be fully committed to the project and have the initiative required to drive the engine of innovation. To support this, the country where these types of activities are developed should, in my opinion, have policies that incentivize capital investment in several ways:

- On the one hand, favoring capital investment so companies have sufficient financial capacity and muscle: policies incentivizing investment -not just towards the raising of ‘national’ capital, but also attracting international investment.

- A fiscal framework that makes it possible to attract talent from outside and adopt competitive stock option policies, special fiscal conditions, etc.  In our case, security is a specialized niche market, and it is not always easy to find people who fit the profile we need to perform this type of work.  It is important we have a framework that is competitive with other markets in this respect.

- Thirdly, also as an engine of innovation, we need to create an environment where future generations are suitably trained and competitive within our own country, driving research and development with measures, grants and specific training programs, with a dual purpose: on the one hand generating wealth through the creation of talent in the country itself, and on the other, preventing a brain drain by enabling this talent to flower in its own country.

These policies would help contribute to the success of entrepreneurs in any country, yet they can never replace the key to success of any entrepreneur: having an innovative idea and executing it effectively in the right-sized market. They can’t replace it, but they offer significant help.

In many countries in southern Europe, we still have a long way to go, and our governments seem to be focused more on short-term policies -with one eye on their own personal horizons (the four-year term in office…)- than on defining policies and structural reforms that would guarantee the competitiveness of our markets and companies in the long-term…

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