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Google ditches Windows on security concerns

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Re: Google ditches Windows on security concerns

#81

Post by sorbus »

memoryfault wrote: post #39

Security in software is relative. Everything is vulnerable. If someone wants to hack into Google's super-secret data and Google is running Linux or Mac OS X, then the hackers will find exploits in that software. This article is a joke for implying that this switch will in any way make them more secure.

If they're using Linux, they can find and patch the vulnerability immediately. They could even have a team hunting through the source code looking for vulnerabilities to patch.

On Windows, they would have to report the vulnerability to Microsoft, and hope that it's patched soon. It probably would be, but that's still an extra step - and they wouldn't be able to locate it with reference to the code. Also, as another person mentioned, china has access to the Windows source code; Google doesn't. This evens the playing field.

Re: Google ditches Windows on security concerns

#82

Post by butterfi »

melling wrote: post #47
megaman821 wrote: post #14

Is there any evidence that Windows 7 is less secured than Snow Leopard? Windows employs more advanced security techniques. IE has outlasted Safari in Pwn2Own since IE8. Windows releases security fixes much faster. If they favor OS X over Windows that is completely fine, but I think they are implying something that isn't true in regards to security. If someone exploits OS X on them, is everyone moving to Linux next?

Market share: Windows 90%, Mac 9%, Linux 1%. Where are virus writers going to put most of their effort? Windows being as secure as Mac wouldn't help make it safer because a lot more implemented exploits are going to exist in the wild.

I, for one, am pretty bored by the market share defense. There are millions of macs out there, owned by people who could drop a little coin on their hardware, and that make them less of a target? There's not one virus writer out there who doesn't want the cred and the potential gain of a new audience of victims, many of whom are probably pretty complacent about security because they've never had to worry about it?

There aren't many mansions where I live, yet they seem to need the most security.

Re: Google ditches Windows on security concerns

#85

Post by spicyj »

butterfi wrote: post #82
melling wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Market share: Windows 90%, Mac 9%, Linux 1%. Where are virus writers going to put most of their effort? Windows being as secure as Mac wouldn't help make it safer because a lot more implemented exploits are going to exist in the wild.

I, for one, am pretty bored by the market share defense. There are millions of macs out there, owned by people who could drop a little coin on their hardware, and that make them less of a target? There's not one virus writer out there who doesn't want the cred and the potential gain of a new audience of victims, many of whom are probably pretty complacent about security because they've never had to worry about it? Th…

While you might liken the rarity and the glamour of owning a Mac to that of owning a mansion, a thief has much more to gain by targeting a large house that's more likely to be filled with expensive electronics and jewels. On the other hand, I doubt that Macs are significantly more likely to contain data that a hacker would be looking for.

Re: Google ditches Windows on security concerns

#86

Post by jlmendezbonini »

pook wrote: post #79
microkid wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No offense, but level playing field is ridiculous. Think about what you're saying, you're saying Google is going to sit there and review all of the source code, and all patches and new releases to that source code. Really? Do you actually believe this... As per China having the source, do you really think it matters? If someone wants to break in, they're going to get in... (regardless if its Windows/Linux/Mac) why...…

More importantly but less vociferously, by Google switching to an open source OS, it means anyone, anywhere, can fix vulnerabilities. Not just Google. Considering the difficulty of patching security holes in proprietary software versus patching holes in open software, Google indeed would hugely benefit by drastically reducing the difference between the cost of defense and the cost of cracking. It's not so much levell…

Switching to an open source OS? OSX is a mix between open and closed source software where quite a bit of its open source code is not updated frequently. Google can't patch Preview, Quicktime, Safari or any other closed source program develop by Apple. Also, Apple is not famous for quickly patching OSX[1]. Quoting Charlie Miller[2,3]: "Mac OS X is like living in a farmhouse in the country with no locks, and Windows is living in a house with bars on the windows in the bad part of town."[4]

[1] http://www.zdnet.com/blog/security/apple-fixes-old-java-for-... [2] http://www.dailytech.com/Charlie+Miller+to+Unveil+20+Zeroday... [3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Miller_(security_resear... [4] http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2010/0412/technology-apple-hack...

Re: Google ditches Windows on security concerns

#87

Post by robryan »

w1ntermute wrote: post #78
zmmmmm wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'd speculate this is more about politics, or dogfooding Agree on the dogfooding. I think Google is planning a major attack on Microsoft's business / office empire. They have made it so simple to set up a new business using Google apps that it's almost unthinkable to me that I would go out and do an exchange setup. But this is largely still in stealth mode because Google wants to bring its business apps up to the p…

There's a major flaw in your logic - Google has already begun a major attack on Apple, but they're still allowing OS X on their campus.

In mobile computing, I don't see them making any push into the apple desktop/laptop/osx market. So I guess you make a valid point if they were giving their employees iphones over andriod ones which I doubt.

I doubt they are looking at chrome OS to be a replacement for a full osx like operating system at any time in the near future.

Re: Google ditches Windows on security concerns

#90

Post by dejb »

amalcon wrote: post #64
dejb wrote: post #37

The danger here is that they will lose touch with the 80% of their user base that uses windows. If they don't have enough people who intimately understand the computing experience of their users then their products could suffer.

They will almost certainly still have some windows machines around, if only for testing against IE. Some Google employees almost certainly use Windows at home. I really don't think they're going to lose anything major in terms of familiarity.

I don't think it is the same to test something on a platform as developing it on that platform. Developers will instinctively look to take advantage of the strengths of their main platform and work around the weaknesses. With nobody in an entire team using a platform it will probably become an afterthought, left to a separate quality assurance team who are only in a position to correct obvious errors rather than produce excellence.
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