I've seen the outcomes of certain hacking competitions yield varied results and the argument over which OS is currently more secure has never seemed to go beyond an anecdotal level. I currently split my development (PHP, MySQL web applications which handle sensitive transcript information, among others) 50% between OSX Snow Leopard and Windows 7. Is there an argument for either from a security stand point?
A:
OSX is based on Unix, so I would vote for it. But if you want real security - Linux awaits. ;]
Tomasz Kowalczyk
2010-09-12 21:28:35
Yeah, it is based on BSD but those benefits stopped paying out ten years ago when Apple forked the kernel. Jailbroken recently?
x0n
2010-09-12 21:29:38
A:
Essentially, no. The anecdotal evidence of security in one system or another is the most you will ever see.
More important to you, perhaps, is how easy it is to hire someone to manage the systems that run your application. Or, if you manage them yourself, on which system do you feel you'd be more willing to claim authority in the matter?
Andres Jaan Tack
2010-09-12 21:30:35