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Viewpoint March 18,=20 2008, 12:01AM EST

Apple's Icarus Effect

Pride goes before destruction, and with hackers targeting = Macs=20 and iPhones, Roger L. Kay says Apple's haughty spirit portends a fall =

by Roger L. = Kay

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Just as those living in shiny houses of self-righteous glass often = end up=20 surrounded by shards of their former sanctimony, so Apple Inc. now finds = itself=20 the increasingly appealing target of software hackers.

For years, Apple's marketing has consisted of accentuating the = positive and=20 ignoring everything else. As hackers pillaged Microsoft's (MSFT) = Windows=20 operating system, Apple (AAPL) stressed that its computer platform was = relatively=20 virus-free, most notably in that snarky ad campaign, "I'm a PC. I'm a = Mac."=20 There was Windows, groaning under the weight of its security apparatus, = like=20 some knight of yesteryear packed in heavy armor who, once he fell off = his horse,=20 couldn't get up again. And on the other side, there was Apple strutting = about,=20 smacking its gloves together and posing for the crowd.

But now Apple is becoming a victim of its own success, and the irony = is just=20 too great to miss. Anyone with a mild sense of history is keeping track. = The=20 main reason Apple had been left alone by hackers was not by virtue of = any=20 superior security technology, the company's protestations to the = contrary=20 notwithstanding. Software is, after all, eminently hackable. Only = sufficient=20 motivation is required. And now that Apple's platforms have become more = popular,=20 hackers are getting motivated.

Target: iPhone

Apple sold nearly 7.8 million Mac desktop and laptop computers in = 2007.=20 That's a 37% gain over the number sold in 2006 and well more than double = the=20 2001 volume. It's little surprise then that reports of Mac viruses have = been=20 rising steadily.

Even more than the Mac, the iPhone makes for an attractive target. = Apple=20 tried to keep tight control on the iPhone platform, which is also based = on the=20 Mac OS. But iPhone-philes had other ideas. Hackers went to town on the = iPhone=20 from day one, opening it for service with nondesignated wireless = providers and=20 dropping applications onto it at will. And now there's Pwnage, a product = of the=20 renegade iPhone Dev Team. Pwnage threatens to help programmers bypass = the=20 controls and tolls Apple hopes to impose on any iPhone application = created with=20 the just-released software kit.

As if there weren't already enough incentive to hack the iPhone, the = 30%=20 revenue "share" Apple will require for every application sold through = the iTunes=20 Store should do the trick. To cast Microsoft as the bad guy who'd stop = at=20 nothing to hook its customers' bank accounts up to an intravenous drip = is just=20 too much. Taking such a large cut just for distributing software is no = more=20 generous a policy than any coming out of Microsoft. Everyone is rooting = for the=20 hackers to win.

Getting Warmer

Apple, welcome to Microsoft's world! This is an environment in which = you have=20 to support thousands of developers of varying quality, and all sorts of = apps,=20 well made or not. Some of these developers make you look good, but = others end up=20 trashing your reputation. And despite your best efforts to monetize what = they=20 do, it's not always possible. The elegant simplicity of your platform = just makes=20 hacking easier. There is no such thing as real security. All you can do = is throw=20 up roadblocks=E2=80=94which, by the way, make it harder for both crooks = and law-abiding=20 citizens to drive on your roads.

Daedalus warned Icarus not to fly too high, for the wax holding the = feathers=20 on the wings they were using to escape their island prison would melt in = the=20 sun. But the young man wouldn't heed his father and, reveling in his new = power,=20 passed his sire and kept going. When the wax warmed enough, the feathers = fell=20 apart, and he dropped into the sea.

Everyone makes mistakes. But society loves to repay hubris with = derisive=20 laughter.

Kay is the founder and president of Endpoint = Technologies=20 Associates (http://www.ndpta.com/), a market research firm. He = writes an=20 occasional column on the computer hardware industry at http://www.businessweek.com/technology/index.html. =

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