Certainly Macs are far less likely to get a virus but I submit the following quotes from Brainstorm Tech which pretty much summarize my opinion on the subject.
"This is not to say that OS X is invulnerable. The frequency of Apple's security updates and the emphasis the company is putting on the new security features in Snow Leopard are proof that it is not. Maybe Apple is just lucky. Or maybe it's better at protecting its users from infection than Microsoft.
That said, if the built-in anti-virus protection in Windows 7 is as good as some earlier reviewers suggest. the security gap could close when Microsoft's new system finally launches next month.
Which may be why Apple is hammering home the "thousands of viruses" message now."
Posted by Philip Elmer-DeWitt September 2, 2009"
"The Mac OSX isn't anything special and the truth is that there is nothing to gain to write a "Virus" for mac. Malware normally can cause enough damage that viruses in general are pretty much a thing of the past. Being a network infrastructure and security professional the fact is this, MAC isn't big enough in the business market to even bother. Viruses were at one time a way to destroy data, now the thing is to steal it, and Malware is the way to do it. Opening virtual ports leaving open back doors is what most people want and the fact is that there is a lot more to gain by exploiting and accessing PCs than MACs. I'm not a Mac hater ( I have 3 of them) but the fact is that a Virus is a program written to do damage and that over 95% of so called viruses are more categorized as Malware or Spyware and in that note if any 1 cared enough they could write one or 100. The prob with OSX is that they have very limited security and when someone does write one or more to do damage it will be a HUGE problem for Mac owners."
Posted By Ryan: September 24, 2009 2:01 AM
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