Will Apple Finally Admit Macs Need Protection?

[Peaches]

Will Apple Finally Admit Macs Need Protection?

Preston Gralla, Computerworld

"A day after the blogosphere noted that Apple has finally admitted Macs need anti-virus software, Apple has pulled a KnowledgeBase article recommending that Mac users install security software. When will Apple finally admit Macs need protection?

As I pointed out in a previous post, Apple: We admit it --- Macs need anti-virus software, an Apple KnowledgeBase article recommended that Mac users use anti-virus software. Here's what it had to say:

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.

It appears that the KnowledgeBase article was, in fact, an old one, and only recently received any publicity. In response, Apple has since pulled the article. Go to it now and you'll get this message:

We're sorry.

We can't find the article you're looking for.

An Apple spokesman, in explaining why the article was pulled, had this to say:

The Mac is designed with built-in technologies that provide protection against malicious software and security threats right out of the box. However, since no system can be 100 percent immune from every threat, running antivirus software may offer additional protection.

How's that for being mealy-mouthed? On the one hand, Apple is saying that Macs are secure and don't need additional software. Then in the next sentence, they say anti-virus software can be useful as well.

Apple, once again, is trying to play it too cute when it comes to potential dangers. Any operating system is potentially vulnerable to threats and the sooner Apple admits it, the safer Mac users will be. "

Story: http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/arti...protection.html

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Apple yanks antivirus advice from its Web site

Official calls it 'old and inaccurate,' but researcher blames Apple's penchant for secrecy

By Gregg Keizer

December 3, 2008 (Computerworld)

"Apple Inc. late Tuesday yanked a controversial support document from its Web site that had urged Mac users to run antivirus software because the recommendation was "old and inaccurate," a company spokesman said today.

The document, which had become the focus of considerable discussion among Mac users and security experts this week, is no longer available on Apple's support site. Instead, browsers directed to its location display a generic message: "We're sorry. We can't find the article you're looking for."

"We have removed the KnowledgeBase article because it was old and inaccurate," Apple spokesman Bill Evans said in an e-mail Wednesday.

The Mac is designed with built-in technologies that provide protection against malicious software and security threats right out of the box," he went on. "However, since no system can be 100% immune from every threat, running antivirus software may offer additional protection."

Full story here: http://www.computerworld.com/action/articl...tsrc=hm_ts_head