Hmmm, maybe Apple could use this info in its ads for Mac OS X Server (at least if they’re confident of its security features). Hackers are continuing to find security holes in Microsoft’s Windows NT server software. The result, according to a CNET article is that the cost for insuring against such attacks has increased for some software users.
J.S. Wurzler Underwriting Managers, one of the earliest agencies to offer hacker insurance, has begun charging its clients anywhere from five to 15 percent more if they use Microsoft’s Windows NT software instead of a Unix system — Mac OS X Server — or Linux for their Internet operations.
“We have always felt that there is a high risk with the Windows NT system,” Walter Kopf, senior vice president of underwriting at Wurzler, told CNET. “We have found out that the possibility for loss is greater using the NT system. Where there is a greater loss, there tends to be an increase in the premium.”
Kopf said Wurzler made the decision based on findings from hundreds of security assessments the company has done on their small and midsize business clients over the past couple of years. CNET reported that “although observers say there is no sign other insurers will imitate Wurzler’s premium increases, the move shows growing concerns about continuing vulnerability discoveries in Microsoft’s software products.”
The story points out earlier snafus with Windows software. Earlier in May, the Big M found a security hole in Internet Information Server (its Web server software). Last month, a Windows 2000 server software problem let hackers crash a system by sending a simple request for a Web page. And Microsoft has also pledged to beef up security in its upcoming Windows XP operating system.
Last week Apple rolled out a new version of Mac OS X Server. Mac OS X Server is designed to run on Macintosh Server G4, Power Mac G4, Power Mac G4 Cube, iMac, Macintosh Server G3 and Power Mac G3 computers with 128MB RAM and 4GB of available disk space.
The new Mac OS X Server is built on top of the latest Mac OS X operating system foundation and combines the power of a UNIX-based server with the ease-of-use of the Mac, according to Philip Schiller, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. It also makes much fuller use of the Aqua GUI (graphical user interface) than its predecessor. The new Mac OS X Server integrates server applications such as an Apache Web server, Samba for Windows file sharing, WebObjects 5 application server, and QuickTime Streaming Server 3, to provide services to Mac, Windows, and UNIX clients and networks.