Ahh, but Jonty30, the hole in question is social engineering. People are conditioned to pay attention to official-looking dialog boxes. The original version of this relied upon deceit, but nothing else.
One malware event may or may not open a door here. That door has been swinging in the wind, widely, for a very long time in the microsoft camp. I deal with it everyday in my professional life, on all three primary platforms. You’re right that Apple, as well as all other software manufacturers, needs to have a serious eye on security.
Largely, they have. What has changed here is that the number of macs has increased to the point where those malefactors writing viruses and malware now feel that they have another worthwhile target. That isn’t the same as saying that they didn’t have one before. All that really started with the Morris worm in 1988. And came to full fruition with windows years after that.
Whether this is a cottage industry now or not, I do agree with you that ALL makers of software need a generally better eye on security. I wouldn’t, however, and cannot, single out Apple alone. No mac in my district, and that’s a large number of thousands, has yet been infected. On the other hand, we do regularly see a need to clean one or another of the pcs. No big deal. No need to crow about it. It is a numbers game, ultimately. You may look at this as something which speaks well of recent Apple sales, if nothing else.
I’ve been aware of the fact that Apple reputation has been more due to it’s small market share, more than the fact that it is more secure.
And, accordingly to a story that a story that was released here not that long ago, Apple Techs have been instructed to always deny the possibility of malware and viruses, no matter the facts of the situation.