Contest organizer Aaron Portnoy, who is the security research team lead with 3Com TippingPoint, the sponsor of Pwn2Own, told Computerworld’s Gregg Keizer that:

“Safari will be the first to go. [Safari will] be on Snow Leopard, which isn’t on the same level as Windows 7.”

Of course this stance is disputed by other security impresarios (talk about an author using a thesaurus).

Microsoft has been THE target of hackers for so long that they had to have learned.  Mac has had the privilege of being under the radar for a long time since they were the plucky underdog.  However, as their sales rise, more hackers will start targeting the platform.

And it also shows that marketing is a really king.  For years I have said that a large part of Microsoft’s rise as been marketing.  Mac has been touting its security and I even hear my parent’s telling me Mac’s are more secure!  I doubt this will perception will change any time soon, but it is a little vindicating to see reality starting to bubble up in the press.