Apple Mac Not Immune to Malware

Apple Macs do get Malware

How often do we still hear Mac users blithely proclaiming they have no need for Anti Virus software because Macs don’t get viruses. Well Mac users, those days are gone for good, if they ever existed at all.

The fact that what some regard as the world’s first virus, “Elk Cloner”, was a Mac virus seems to have exited people’s minds.

The hardness of Mac’s Unix core operating system perhaps makes it more difficult for malicious persons to write viruses and trojans for Macs. Also in the old days Mac users were a very small group of computers users, mainly professionals involved in the print and graphics industries, not a big enough target for virus creators to spend their time on.

Mac users have been complacent, secure in the expectation their systems are safe;  At one time I was one of them. I used Macs for years with no AV software installed.

Recent Mac Viruses

Only a few months ago, MacDefender Tojan Horse was happily infecting Macs around the world, and just today, an article from Sophos Naked Security highlights another Mac trojan, OSX/Revir-B.

These Mac Trojans are not however the end of the story. Consider all the file sharing between Mac and Windows users in the commercial world.

Macs can give Window Malware

How often do files get transferred from Mac to Windows platforms. How often do vulnerable removable drives get used to transfer these files.

Here is an example:
User A prepares work on a Mac. User A has no Anti Virus software because Macs are immune! Unknown to user A, a visit to a website has installed a Windows virus or trojan in a Word or Excel file. User A sends the file to user B, a Windows user. User B’s PC gets infected!

Or another example;
User A gets an e-mail containing malware and forwards it to User B. Once again User B’s PC gets infected.

Mac Users, break the malware chain, get your Macs protected. The days of Mac immunity to malware are gone for ever.