The Apple myth: Why security through obscurity isn't security

My girlfriend was on the prowl for a new vehicle not too long ago, and decided on a Subaru. Not only do the company's vehicles arguably receive some of the highest safety ratings in the States, but their policy of across-the-board all wheel drive is another nicety I love about them. Even so, she wouldn't think of ditching her safety belt, no matter how safe the cars claim to be.

Likewise, sizable portions of American society lives out in rural areas where crime and theft are almost unheard of. Yet they most likely still use locks on all of their doors, and keep them locked shut at night. Their risk of forced entry or other crimes are leagues lower than in congested urban areas (like my neck of the woods, Chicago) but they still follow plain commonsense.

So this begs the question: how has Apple gotten a free pass on the falsehood that its OS X (and now iOS) users just don't need anti-malware software? As an IT professional who has personally cleaned off numerous Macs each year for the past 2-3 years, it really irks me that Apple still hasn't admitted that this falsehood is endangering an entire slice of our computing society.