http://www.pcworld.com/article/2993302/security/is-apples-security-honeymoon-on-os-x-ending.html The landscape is changing, however. Apple’s market share of desktop computers is nearing 17 percent. OS X, Apple’s operating system, is popular with consumers and enterprises now, making it a more interesting target for hackers. A report to be released on Thursday by the security company Bit9 + Carbon Blackshows that more malware has been found this year for OS X than in the last five years combined. The company found 948 unique samples of malware this year compared to just 180 between 2010 and last year. Although the increase is large, the malware isn’t very sophisticated and is easy to remove, security experts say. More than half of the malware found this year was aimed at forcing people to view advertisements, a class of annoyances known as adware. Also, infections were mostly dependent on users making poor decisions, such as downloading what should be recognized as questionable software. The jump in OS X malware also still pales in comparison to Windows. “If you put all of the Mac malware that we’ve seen, and you combine those numbers for the history of OS X, basically it is less by a significant amount than the amount of Windows malware you will see in an hour,” said Rich Mogull, an analyst with Securiosis in Phoenix, Arizona.
Yeah... Years ago, one wouldn't even need virus protection because there really was no interest. I mean there were occasional worms that would wreck shit up, but it was extremely rare. I was unaware that Apple has a 17% share. That's a lot!
