CNET reporter Joris Evers on Wednesday posted an article on the Silicon.com Web site that addressed the possibility of Windowsi malware problems cropping up on the new Intel-based Macs. In a nutshell, it wonit happen, she wrote, simply because "it is the operating system, not the hardware, that has made those Microsoft-based computers vulnerable to attacks."
However, Ms. Evers did talk to security experts who raised the specter of low-level system attacks, such as those against the computeris BIOS, although itis not known if the new Macs will employ the same low-level software found in the Windows world. Such attacks are also rare, she noted.
An increased market share could make the Mac OS a higher profile target for hackers, though, and "software makers will have to watch out for sloppy coding," IDC analyst Charles Kolodgy told Ms. Evers. "With many developers making changes to their programs en masse, there is much more opportunity for vulnerabilities to be created -- not intentionally but accidentally." Mr. Kolodgy also said that security chips known as trusted platform modules, which are showing up in the Windows world, could make their way into Macs now. The chips secure encryption keys and could be a way for Apple to further lock down its hardware.