Apple has invited security company Kaspersky Lab to advise it on the security of its
Mac OS –
according to the security provider's chief technology officer.
Speaking exclusively to
Computing, Kaspersky CTO Nikolai Grebennikov said his firm had recently begun the process of analysing the
Mac OS
platform at Apple's request.
"Mac OS is really vulnerable," he claimed, "and
Apple recently
invited us to improve its security. We've begun an analysis of its vulnerabilities, and the malware targeting it," said Grebennikov.
Grebennikov claimed that, in his personal view, Apple does not take security seriously enough.
"Our first investigations show Apple doesn't pay enough attention to security. For example, Oracle closed a vulnerability in Java, which was a target for a major botnet several months ago."
Earlier this year, a botnet of 600,000 Macs was found to have been infected by the
flashback
Trojan, which exploited the Java vulnerability.
"Apple blocked Oracle from updating Java on Mac OS, and they perform all the udpates themselves. They only released the patch a few weeks ago – two or three months after the Oracle patch. That's far too long," he said.
Grebennikov pointed to the existence of the botnet as evidence that Apple needs help with its security.
"This botnet, which the security community identified, is a huge sign that Apple's security model isn't perfect," he said.
Kaspersky has often been quoted as criticising the security of various Apple platforms, and now will have the opportunity to improve at least one of them.
This appears to be the successful culmination of a long-term Kaspersky strategy to work with Apple.
A
year ago, Grebennikov told
Computing that Apple could not hope to keep its mobile platform iOS locked down without outside expertise.
While he admitted that no iOS-specific malware has yet been identified, Grebennikov stated that he expects to see iPads and iPhones being infected by malware in the next year.
"Our experience tells us that in the near future, perhaps in a year or so, we will see the first malware targeting iOS."