The Economics of Hacking

A little something I wrote over at CanadianEconomist.com.

Here’s a thought: because Microsoft platforms are the focus of the median hacker’s pursuits, Microsoft has a higher threshold of security vulnerabilities it must patch up. With a larger number of hackers trying to exploit its vulnerabilities, Microsoft simply has to meet a higher standard. Because Mac has such a small market share, it stands to reason that there are a smaller number of hackers who have “Mac hacking skills”; relatively speaking, it could require a lower skill threshold for a hacker to break into a Mac.

For some time, Mac users have relied on the Mac’s smaller market share to insulate it from attacks. Hackers likely choose their skill set such that they are able to make their way through the most popular platforms, and so you average hacker’s skill set doesn’t include Mac. However, instead of being a boon to security, this is a major drawback. Hacking has economic benefits because this activity spots holes and vulnerabilities in an operating system, free of charge to the producer. Of course, it costs money to spot these holes and once they are spotted companies can lose substantial amounts of money, but the point is that an army of hackers are out there constantly trying to find new vulnerabilities, which boosts the quality of the operating system.