eWeek: Macs with Intel chips are still safe

A few days ago, eWeek posted a story (emphasis on "story") claiming rather speculatively that Apple's move to Intel chips "could open the door to more attacks against computers running the company's OS X operating system."

But someone at eWeek must've fallen asleep at the helm, as it seems a little common sense has found its way onto their pages: eWeek security columnist Larry Seitzer penned a piece titled "Move to Intel a Security Non-Issue for Apple," debunking the myths of the previously mentioned article. Seitzer writes rather bluntly, "Claims like these raise basic questions about what creates a vulnerability in an operating system and how attackers exploit them. The short answer is that rarely, if ever, are the existence of vulnerabilities related to the specifics of one processor architecture versus another."

Everyone I've spoken to about this issue tells me confidently that, yes, a low-level x86 "virus" could be written to affect both Windows-
and Mac-based machines. But the likelihood of such an occurrence is improbable at best. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Check out Seitzer's column for a lot of over-the-head facts and convincing reasons why the Mac will still be safe, even after the unholy switch to 'Evil Processors'.

[via MacDailyNews]