Nobody would deny that the number of viruses, Trojans, and other threats targeting Windows is vastly greater than the number of those targeting the Macintosh. But 95 percent of those responding to a survey conducted by Sophos believe that Macs will be targeted more and more in the future.
In response to this growing threat, Sophos on Monday announced the release of Sophos Anti-Virus Home Edition for Mac. Free for home use, this tool will protect users against "all known malware, including both Mac- and Windows-specific threats including Trojan horses, viruses, worms and spyware".
Other security companies seem to agree. Last month Panda Security released their $49.95 Panda Antivirus for Macintosh, noting that their labs see about 500 new Mac-specific threats every month. Panda points out that phishing and other social engineering attacks aren't specific to any platform. Sophos reports a number of other threat types that have already affected the Mac platform including malware disguised as pirated software on P2P sites, erotic video links that ask for a codec which turns out to be malicious, and Windows malware passed using the Mac as a carrier.
Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos, notes that Apple has tacitly acknowledged the problem. "Most people don't know that Apple acknowledged the malware problem by integrating rudimentary protection against a handful of Mac Trojans in Snow Leopard," said Cluley. "Wise Mac users will secure their computers now."
According to Sophos, the product "provides automatic on-access detection that runs in the background, which means Mac users don't need to run any manual scans… Furthermore, strong disinfection capabilities make it easy to clean-up an infection should malware already be in place."
Sophos Anti-Virus Home Edition for Mac is available for download now; Sophos has also established a dedicated Mac support forum to help users with Mac-related malware problems.