"Any platform with a virus scanner is a potential time bomb," says
Michael Pneumatic.
"Mac users are deluding themselves into thinking virus scanners
actually protect their computers," said Michael Pneumatic of the Clean
Mean Operatin' Machine Consortium.
The Consortium says up to 83 percent of Mac users are under the
influence of virus protection hypnotists . . . er , under the
impression that a commercially produced virus checker will help their
system run better.
"Studies show, for example, that 43 percent of hard drive wipes are
caused by incompatibilities with virus and worm scanning software,"
said Pneumatic.
In this speed test, Norton Anti-Virus was uninstalled and then
reinstalled on a 500 MHz
iBook. The resulting configurations were used to test the length of
time required to mount a CD-ROM containing a list of covered bridges in
Westchester, New York, and several pages of black-and-white Postscript
files containing crossword puzzles about lost aviator Amelia
Earhart.
[Sorry, folks, but the graph was soooo wide that we had to print it
sideways. ed]
"If a Mac has a virus scanner, bring a book," said Pneumatic.
"You'll be waiting until next week. You'd think with only 60-odd Mac
viruses in the wild, they could up the performance a bit."
When asked about recent reports
exposing the Mac's vulnerability to virus attacks, Pneumatic said,
"Obviously you're going to have some risk of being infected. However,
the odds are less than getting hit by a fragment of a meteor bouncing
off the bumper of some Republican's SUV in Massachusetts."
According to Kevin Chapman of Symantec, "Another big problem Mac
users don't think about is that they make perfect incubators for
Windows viruses."
"Oh, we think about it," said Pneumatic, winking. "We think about it
a lot. Here's what we think: Get rid of the MicroStuff on your
hard drive and kiss those virii g'bye."
