John Dunn in his blog on TECHWORLD, received from BitDefender a list of 68 malware that target the Apple user and their operating system.  In another article, he indicates that they count “270 different threats specifically targeting Mac OS X.”

April 14, 2010, Intego, maker of VirusBarrier, released a warning of the latest Mac-oriented malware, osx/hellrts.d. It can run on either Power-PC or Intel-based Macs. It allows full remote takeover of the computer.

So maybe there are now 271 malware out there looking to infect your Apple computer. Is that a lot or a little?

Many of these are old. This newest malware, osx/hellrts.d, is a variant of a malware discovered in 2004. Is it dangerous?

Do I, the Macintosh user, need to have anti-virus software on my computer?

A year ago, Spybot reported over 280,000 viruses. If we take our numbers from above, 271, or .01%, focused on Apple systems. That doesn’t sound like much. However, one of the reasons some of these 271 still exist is because Apple users thought that they didn’t need protection. It didn’t sound like much of a threat. Consequently, Apple users haven’t inoculated themselves against those few malware that do exist. This allows those few to very occasionally be transferred to another computer and remain “alive,” though not very virulent or active in the Apple community.

I once owned a car that no one wanted to steal. However, there were people in my neighborhood who made a living stealing car radios. I didn’t like the idea of having to clean up the glass from the broken window, the cost of replacing the windows, or replacing broken locks. I decided to leave the car unlocked. I was willing to have my radio stolen, but not my windows broken.

As a Macintosh user, I find it preferable to pay yearly for anti-virus software rather than to discover that my computer has been trashed, that someone has been all through it, and that I have no idea whether they have the keys can enter any time they wish.

I suggest paying the annual ransom and hoping the anti-virus engineers do their job well. You also get “Brownie points” for having been a good neighbor. Your Apple computer is perfectly capable of passing Windows oriented malware onto the computers of your family and friends. Installing anti-malware software on your Macintosh will prevent that transmission.

The question about why Apple computers are not better attacked by malware is often answered by saying that, because there so many Windows computers, Macs aren’t as attractive as a target. I think that that is part of the answer. I postulate that the rest of  the story is that the OS X operating system and its Macintosh graphical user interface are a more “closed” system. Applications are installed into a more controlled structure. For some that is a bad thing– it reduces creativity. For this subject and for the purposes of keeping the operating system stable, it is a very good thing!

Though there are not many malware products targeting cell phones, there are many more focused on the open systems than on the closed systems. Your cable television systems, like the iPhone and iPad, are also more closed systems. This closed system approach is in competition with an open system and because of the competition both will become more secure. However, these closed systems don’t get viruses. Doing a quick Internet search, I found one example that affects all phones linked to the ATT system. Just one! And, in my quick search, none that infect your cable television system. There were a number more that infect non-iPhones.

If we get to a one-phone-operating-system world, whether a closed or an open system, viruses will grow in numbers. For now, it is a good thing that there are a number of phone operating systems. It makes all of them more difficult to infect, because transmission is more difficult.

For today, because the Apple computing system is a more closed system and because there is another operating system with much greater numbers of users, the viruses are fewer for Apple computing systems. But, tomorrow…  It may be that tomorrow, the evil ones release malware number 272 for the Apple computing system…

Are you protected? Do you mind having the insides of your computer trashed? Or would you rather pay the “protection money,” keep them out of your computer, and not be the cause of evil if they get transferred to your family and friend’s PCs?

There are companies that will take your money and in return provide your Mac some protection: Symantec, BitDefender, Intego, and Sophos are most widely known. ClamAV offers it free; the question is whether to trust the open source community or the corporations. The corporations may have more to lose if their product does not work. ClamAv may be as safe as… I just don’t know enough to know. There are various complaints about the products of the above mentioned companies. I will have more complaints, if it is your email that infects my computer and you weren’t wearing any protection!

Charlie says: Apple Users, put on some kind of prophylactic. Pay the protection money and help keep my computing environment safe! Or, at least use ClamAv.

(Disclaimer: As of this writing, I am neither representing nor selling any particular anti-virus software. I have worked with all of the products listed above, some with frustration. I have had all of them installed on my and my customer’s computers at one time or another. If you don’t like the one you are with, try another. If you don’t like any of them, tough luck. Use something. I am investigating reselling Sophos products to my customers. The price will be good for them. In my tests and the reports that I have read, it seems to interfere little with the end users, and I can have it report into my console from my customer’s computers—sort of an early warning system with remote management capabilities. I expect that it will have its own frustrations—everything does—but that is no reason not to be “wearing.”

Now, I am finished.)