14 DAY TRIAL // Viruses and worms are the "amusement" of every PC owner, condemned to install security patches, to be up to date with new apparitions of malicious codes, to update daily the antivirus solutions and to run a firewall. Just when you thought nothing can harm your computer some company announces a security breach.
In this aspect, Mac users, although smaller in number, are much happier. Even if Symantec announced recently that the attacks on these systems are increasing, Mac users are much safer from worms and viruses than the rest of the users.
To balance things, a Tennessee company announced that it offers 25,000 dollars for the person who creates a virus able to infect two PowerMac G5 systems with Internet connection and with a clean version of OS X.
Since the publishing of the biannual report which announced the increase of the number of attacks on Mac systems, Symantec reevaluated the situation at the request of several users and analysts and concluded that the situation is not that bad.
Jack Campbell, the organizer of the contest and chief executive officer of the DVForge company, was contacted by several specialists and Mac users who advised him to give up the idea of the contest because, although the risks of "breaking" a Mac are small, they still exist.
Moreover, certain legal problems can arise from previous attempts to destabilize Mac systems. In conclusion, despite the enthusiasm and the trust in Apple's security systems, the organizer abandoned the idea.