“Antivirus company Sophos has released an updated version of its virus-protection software for the Mac, the company announced Wednesday. Sophos said its Anti-Virus for Mac OS X software is easier to use, but the company is still working hard to justify the cost of the product to OS X users, who have not yet had to deal with a widespread virus,” Robert Lemos reports for CNET News.
“For the most part, while potential security issues do exist on the Mac, they have failed to materialize as serious problems. For example, security researchers found a critical security hole in Apple’s operating system in May, which the company patched this month. The hole could have been used to create a Web virus, but no such program has been detected to date,” Lemos reports.
“‘Even when viruses can’t run specifically on the Mac platform, Macs continue to be carriers of viruses, thus increasing the overall spread,’ said a Sophos representative. Regardless, until a major security event creates demand, Sophos and other antivirus software makers may find Apple’s customers not very fertile ground for their products,” Lemos reports.
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: “Sophos and other antivirus software makers may find Apple’s customers not very fertile ground for their products?” No, ya think? Mac users right now need to make a choice, apply Anti-Virus software to help other platforms (Windows) keep viruses from spreading (which wouldn’t make a dent in it anyway with all of the infected Windows machines out there) or do nothing and suffer no real effects. Anitvirus software for a virus-free platform strikes us in much the same way as a “Macworld Expo” without Apple and a Steve Jobs keynote – what’s the point?
Note #1: if you use Microsoft Office for Mac OS X (viruses and Microsoft go together like no other combo, it seems), you may want to use software such as this to prevent Macro Virus propagation. Note #2: if you are an extreme “better safe than sorry” type, you should probably go for it; it’ll make you feel better.
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Is Mac OS X really inherently more secure than Windows? – August 26, 2003
BusinessWeek’s Haddad gets it wrong; thinks low market share spares Macs from viruses – August 28, 2003
Shattering the Mac OS X ‘security through obscurity’ myth – August 28, 2003
Fortune columnist: ‘get a Mac’ to thwart viruses; right answer for the wrong reasons – September 02, 2003
New York Times: Mac OS X ‘much more secure than Windows XP’ – September 18, 2003
Columnist tries the ‘security through obscurity’ myth to defend Windows vs. Macs on virus front – October 1, 2003
Gates: Windows ‘by far the most secure’ system; tries to use ‘Mac OS X secure through obscurity’ myth – January 27, 2004
Mac OS X has no viruses; what’s wrong with Windows? – February 11, 2004
Spyware, adware plague Windows users online; Mac OS X users surf freely – April 19, 2004
Gartner: Worms jack up the total cost of Microsoft Windows – May 07, 2004
Apple exec: Mac OS X is ‘more secure than other platforms, certainly more secure than Microsoft Windows’ – June 14, 2004
Microsoft developing own antivirus software for leaky Windows – June 16, 2004