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Army Switching to Mac
The U.S. Army is increasing its purchases of Apple's Mac computers, which are considered less vulnerable to viruses and security attacks.The Army started integrating Macs into its IT systems in 2005 but has been held back by the hipster computer's premium price and incompatibility with the military's secured-access Common Access Cards system. But the situation is changing, according to Forbes. The Army effort is being led by Lt. Col. C.J. Wallington, a division chief in the Army's office of enterprise information systems. The Army's Apple program, created after Boutelle's 2005 address, is working to change that. As early as February 2008, the Army is planning to introduce software, developed by Arlington, Texas-based Thursby Software, that will also enable Mac desktops and laptops to use CAC systems--a change that should make it easier to get Macs into the service. Though Apple machines are still pricier than their Windows counterparts, the added security they offer might be worth the cost, says Wallington. He points out that Apple's X Serve servers, which are gradually becoming more commonplace in Army data centers, are proving their mettle. "Those are some of the most attacked computers there are. But the attacks used against them are designed for Windows-based machines, so they shrug them off," he says. Of course, cyberspooks may be honing their Mac-attacking skills, too. An end-of-year report by Finnish software security company F-Secure highlights the growing number of hackers targeting Apple systems with malicious software, some of which could allow cybercriminals to steal security passwords. In the past two years, until this October, F-Secure found only a small handful of malicious programs targeting Macs. In the past two months, the company has found more than a hundred specimens of Mac-targeted malicious code. As a mac user I'm not sure I'm happy about this. But I did buy a copy of Norton Anti-virus for myself for Christmas because it's clear the Mac's charmed liffe is over. But this should accelerate things. Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2007-12-26 |
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