So are you saying Macs can't catch viruses?
No one says Macs can't get a virus. However, there ain't none.
There are a couple of Trojans that hit the wild about a year and 1/2 ago. The OS has already been patched for them. The only way you could get either one of them was to download and install pirated software or a supposed "video" codec from certain unsavory video sites. You had to put in your master password to install either one of them.
The last major virus to affect Macs was in OS 7 around 1997. We are now on OS 10.6.4. There is no "drive by a web site" and get infected. There are no "open the wrong jpeg" you received in your email and get infected.
Here, check this list out.
The truth about Mac malware. It's a joke - War on Error - Blogs - Technology Blog and Community from IT Experts - Techworld.com
Those trojans are listed there along with the rest of the stuff from over 10 years ago that hasn't been able to infect OS X, ever.
Have a read of this one:
Antivirus Software for Mac: What Malware Protection is Needed?
That one, like all the other ones you'll read by the folks in the security field and those selling the anti-virus software, here is what they say over and over and over...
Apple implies in its marketing campaigns that Macs can't get viruses, which is not strictly true.
This is true enough, Macs could get a virus maybe... if anyone ever decides to write one.
and...
According to Jack Schofield, computer editor at the Guardian, there is almost no malware that targets Macs "in the wild" – but that doesn't mean that the Mac OS is as secure as it could be. For example, he says Safari, Apple's web browser, is known in Internet security circles to have a number of weaknesses which can be exploited.
Well, believe I'll wait until people start writing code to take advantage of these weaknesses before I install another app on my machine. I've been waiting for almost 4 years now since my first Mac.
and again...
Though Macs aren't as tempting a target for virus-writers, they are not virus-proof. Apple's operating system can still be exploited by malware, and, even if Macs aren't attacked directly, they can unwittingly pass along viruses and the like to computers running Windows.
A Mac could be exploited by malware, just as soon as someone writes some code. That little line in there that says "...even if Macs aren't attacked directly...", that's their round about way of saying that Macs haven't been attacked directly.
Yes, you could get some virus in an email someone sends you. While it wouldn't be able to affect OS X, you could forward it on to your Windows using friends. And hopefully they'll have their anti-virus software to deal with it. Know I do on all of my Windows machines here.
So, while a Mac could get a virus, someone will have to write one. And since there hasn't been one in over 10 years, it'll be on every media outlet from TV, to radio, to newspaper, to everyone of your favorite tech blogs within hours after it's been discovered.
For more and the top three reasons you should install an anti-virus on your Mac, see the following thread.
http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/sw...-official-antivirus-malware-firewall-faq.html
