2 December, 2008
updated – Apple has removed that knowledge based article as they deemed it as “old and inaccurate”, as posted by CNet’s Elinor Mills
“We have removed the KnowledgeBase article because it was old and inaccurate,” Apple spokesperson Bill Evans said. “The Mac is designed with built-in technologies that provide protection against malicious software and security threats right out of the box,” he said. “However, since no system can be 100 percent immune from every threat, running antivirus software may offer additional protection.”
As pointed out by MacDailyNews this article was first posted back in June 2007.
Well, we all know no system is 100% fool-proof, so be more aware of what’s out there and surf safely.
Apple released a knowledge based article about the use of protection against virus, something which is unheard of for Macs. Yes there were reports of proof-of-concept viruses and trojans, but nothing ever hit the Mac platform like the ones Windows users face every day.
Apple encourages the widespread use of multiple antivirus utilities so that virus programmers have more than one application to circumvent, thus making the whole virus writing process more difficult.
With more people switching over the Macs, it is not surprisingly some asshats with no life, will go about attempting to create virus to infect Macs. But so far, none had succeeded and till it happens, do consider a few helpful hints to prevent getting infected.
- know the source of your downloads, especially those from peer-to-peer sites
- do not click on files, applications or disc images if you are not sure about their origins
- uncheck the open “Safe” file after downloading option in Safari
- get yourself an anti-virus software for the Mac, if you are worried
Also note that if you run virtualisation softwares like VMware Fusion, Parallels or Boot Camp, your Mac OS is NOT susceptible to viruses you got on the Windows OS. They can’t switch at the moment, not like your common flu.
(via AppleInsider)
