Mac OS malware threat still low
The popularity of Apple's iPhone and initial enthusiastic demand for the iPad may attract greater attention from malware writers, but the Mac OS platform still pales in comparison as a target compared with its Windows counterpart due to low penetration, security experts say.
According to Chia Wing Fei, F-Secure's senior security response manager, the Mac platform currently does seem to "have a financially interesting enough market share to be exploited". Devices such as the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch run a stripped-down version of Mac OS X and make use of the Safari browser, he noted in an e-mail.
iPhone sales were credited for the boost in Apple's second quarter 2010 earnings released last month. Sales of the smartphone was up 131 percent from the same period a year ago, while Mac systems saw a 33-percent jump in units sold. Reception to Apple's tablet device has also been warm--Apple reported on May 3 that it sold the first millionth iPad since the device's debut in early April.
