Apple Quietly Admits Macs Get Viruses

by Terrence O'Brien — Sep 1st 2009 at 5:09PM


If the 'I'm a Mac' ads are to be believed, one of the biggest selling points of the Apple computer is its supposed invulnerability to viruses, spyware, and other evil programs. Of course, those who follow these sorts of things know such a claim is misleading at best. OS X has seen a number of viruses and other nasties over the past several months, as the OS has gained popularity. And now Apple seems to finally be admitting, if rather quietly, that OS X is not quite immune to the Internet's more nefarious elements.

Apple confirmed last Friday, to PC Magazine, that the latest version of OS X (10.6, or Snow Leopard) features a built-in anti-malware tool. Although OS X has had a feature called 'file quarantine' since the 10.4 days, the latest update automatically detects certain Mac-specific threats and suggests that the user quarantine them.

To start, Apple will only detect two different types of malware, but some are already questioning how effective Apple could possibly be at defending OS X against online threats. Apple doesn't have a great track record at promptly addressing security holes, after all. In fact, some may see (we among them) the Cupertino-based company's new anti-malware move as an unwitting challenge to online miscreants that could result in an explosion of harmful, Mac-targeted software. [From: BetaNews and PC Magazine]