Quote:
Originally Posted by JoeD
...The malware that targets the Mac tends to be trojans or worms (which is where windows malware is moving to as well). There's an argument for installing virus software if the virus firms are updating their definitions quick enough when new trojans are found….
Had users been running scanners, then once the "exploit" was known about, those scanners may have been updated in time to prevent additional users getting infected. Whilst Apple issued a patch quickly when it became public knowledge that the exploit was been used by criminals, they had dragged their feet for a few months....
I don't think Mac users have all that much to worry about when it comes to Virus', however, Virus' are no longer the norm for targetting machines, it's worms and trojans. Both of which can impact the mac just as readily as they can windows, as in both cases they focus on either user flaws or OS/app exploits. Which both platforms have in ready supply.
Gatekeeper should help to an extent. Although windows has had something similar for a while and devs/users have been slow to adopt it. Maybe Apple will be able to push adoption of it better than MS managed.
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I learned more about malware threats and protection for OS X and iOS the last couple of days, by googling (for example) "malware threats Mac", "malware threats iOS", "security software comparison", "Mac antivirus software comparison". Security isn't as simple as it used to be, what with mobile devices, computer, and various servers sharing/syncing files and information back and forth. I expect malware threats to OS X and iOS will increase rather than decrease, despite Gatekeeper and sandboxing.
I'm thinking about switching when my time-period with ESET expires, from ESET Cybersecurity for Mac to Intego VirusBarrier X6 ($49.99, Mac), which seems to be rated higher and have more features. Also Intego VirusBarrier iOS ($2.99, iPhone/iPad) addresses the vulnerability of passing malware back to computer from iOS devices.