A Pilgrim’s Digression

Yesterday I heard this story on NPR about how hackers are increasingly targeting the Macintosh community. As a Mac user myself, I know quite well how easy it is to become complacent about Internet threats. Spyware, Viruses, Keyloggers…we have never had to worry about the issues that Windows users deal with as a matter of course.

Personally, I have always prided myself on the fact that I have never felt the need to buy an Anti-Virus program. I don’t feel so smug anymore, however. It seems to me only common sense that if you use a product which advertises itself as so secure that you don’t need Anti-Virus protection, you are simply inviting hackers and codesmiths to break your system and steal your data. Therefore for the first time, just this morning I bought and downloaded Norton Anti-virus for Macintosh.

There are no doubt going to be a lot of Mac users who take issue with this warning, pointing out the Macintosh’s inherent security features that prevent it from being attacked as easily as Windows. I agree, and I certainly sympathize with folks who are not used to buying an Anti-virus product and don’t really want to become used to another yearly subscription fee. However, I don’t think we can keep our head in the sand to this threat any longer. Apple is growing in market share and visibility (though when I went to Best Buy the other day to purchase the new OS X, Leopard, the sales clerk did not even know what I meant by ‘Macintosh’).

I feel like it’s better to be safe than sorry, to use a cliché. Some people put signs in their yard advertising that their home is protected by a security system. Ironically, Macintosh users have broadcast their superiority to the world at large to such an extent that everyone knows Mac users don’t use Anti-Virus or Anti-Spyware technology at all. It’s only a matter of time before someone takes advantage of our guard being down.