XP won't expose Macs to viruses, says Gartner

by admin April 13, 2006 at 10:10 am

Boot Camp security risk is just hype?¢‚Ǩ¬¶

Any talk of Apple’s Boot Camp software exposing the company’s operating system to security risks is just hype and should be ignored, according to analyst firm Gartner.

In an advisory published on Gartner’s website last week, research VP Michael Silver said administrators should ignore any suggestions that Apple’s move to Intel processors will expose the system to security vulnerabilities.

Silver said in the advisory: “All users should ignore any hype about the possibility of exposing the Mac OS to more viruses or worms. The Mac software will be located on another partition within a different file system; thus, running Windows on a Mac will not expose the Mac software to more malware.”

However, if Boot Camp helps to increase the penetration of Apple’s platform then OS X could attract the attention of cyber-criminals, he said.

“If Mac sales and Apple’s market share increase, the Mac OS could potentially become a more attractive target for malware,” he said.

Full story: silicon.com