Media Hype Dept: Macs and Child Predators

Here are two thought-provoking items about how the media has overhyped some computer security threats.

In a post on his Computer World blog, Mark Hall cites some interesting numbers to put the threat of viruses against Macs into perspective. After boiling it down, he points out that the rate of infection still remains small, despite the growing popularity of Macs. But, even then, he points out the market share is still under 10%.

Then there's this really in depth post on David Pogue's blog in The New York Times about child predators on the Web. Like Hall's post on Mac viruses, he really puts the issue into focus.

Now, this doesn't all mean that there aren't Mac viruses or child predators on the Web. Nor does it discount these problems. It just goes to show that these security threats have to be put into perspective.