But Apple's new operating system, known as OS X, is based on the Unix platform, whose code base has been around for more than three decades. While Unix underpinnings have made Apple's OS more powerful and stable, they also have made it more susceptible to viruses and worms.

Startling Conclusions

Even so, mi2g, a London-based company specializing in "digital risk management," released a study this month proclaiming the "startling conclusion" that the Mac OS appears to be among the platforms least vulnerable to virus attacks.

According to mi2g's analysis, the Mac OS "suffered only 31 overt digital attacks, i.e., 0.05 percent of all attacks in 2002," in spite of the fact that Apple holds about 3 percent of the global computer market.

However, the study did not specify whether its findings referred solely to OS X or lumped together the Classic Mac OS and the new Unix-based version. The distinction is important: As of May 2002, it was estimated that only 1 million of the approximately 25 million Mac users worldwide had switched to the Unix-based version. Therefore, if the findings apply to Classic Mac OS as well as OS X, the reported figure might not reflect what will happen in the future.

The report also noted that three other Unix-based platforms -- Linux, BSD and Solaris -- withstood a combined total of 41 percent of overt digital attacks logged in 2002. In comparison, 54 percent of all attacks were directed toward systems running Microsoft Windows.

Greater Impact Predicted

Aberdeen Group analyst Jim Hurley told NewsFactor that Apple's transition to a Unix-based operating system will increase incidents of virus attacks.

"The viruses of the past that affected only PC systems are being replaced by software microbes and active Internet content that will impact almost every computing system environment equally, Apple's OS X included," Hurley said. "Our research indicates that all computing environments that contain common Internet protocols are now susceptible to the new problems posed by harmful active Internet content."

Hurley added that to assume the Unix-based Mac OS X offers greater protection against viruses would be a major misstep. After all, the 2002 CERT (Computer Emergency Response Team) advisories tell a different story than mi2g's findings. According to Hurley, 17 percent of those advisories apply to Apple's OS X, while 24 percent apply to Microsoft systems. (continued...)

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