USA Today: Microsoft programs vulnerable to viruses

[ Thanks to George
Mitchell for this link. ]

“More than 45,000 viruses infect PCs running the Windows
operating system worldwide. Several have caused billions of dollars
in damage in the past 12 months. Hundreds more viruses appear each
year, requiring armies of anti-virus programmers to isolate and
kill the offending bugs.”

“By contrast, perhaps 35 viruses have been written for the
Macintosh and four or five for the Unix-based computers that run
most Web sites, says Eugene Spafford, director of the Computer
Operations, Audit and Security Technology lab at Purdue
University.”

“This, a growing chorus of security experts say, is not
happenstance.”

“PC operating systems have inadequate security,” says Peter
Neumann, principal scientist at SRI International in Menlo Park,
Calif. “Attachments and executable content are features that should
not exist if you are worried about security. Period.”

Complete
Story