Asked for his advice on Internet security at the D9 conference in California, Google CEO Eric Schmidt said: “You could use a Mac instead of a PC.”

A former member of the Apple board of directors, he also told the D9 conference in California that computer users would be safer using Google Chrome as their web browser and should activate two-factor identification on Gmail, reports "The Telegraph" (http://macte.ch/PnOdA). Schmidt also included Apple as one of his ‘Gang of Four’ major technology platforms.

He said that Google dominates information, Facebook in identity and social networking, Amazon in shopping and Apple in making “beautiful products." Schmidt joined Apple's board of directors in 2006, but stepped down in 2009 as Google began entering more of Apple's core businesses with Android and the Chrome OS. It was felt that his effectiveness as an Apple Board member would be diminished, since Schmidt would have to recuse himself from even larger portions of our meetings due to potential conflicts of interest.

-- Dennis Sellers