Just wanted to post a few more thoughts and answer some concerns raised yesterday regarding the story about a new rogue security malware for OS X.

I use malware to describe to describe it because while rogue security apps don't necessarily 'infect' a machine or directly steal personal data or record activity, they do rely on overt deception and lies to con people out of their money, and I'd definitely define that as a malicious behavior.

It should also be noted that the company which was cited in the article, Sunbelt Software, does not make a Mac security product, so they'd have nothing to sell you if it turned out to be real. The report has since been verified by Intego, which does make a Mac security product. That Intego bulletin was picked up and cited by a couple of other reports. But it should be stressed that most of the people sounding the alarms on this have no other interest than simply not wanting to see this type of junk propagate on OS X.

If and when Mac threats emerge, we will write on them. If not on vnunet, then in a posting here, hopefully both. It's not because we hate Apple or want to spread FUD, it's because we want to keep people informed and protected.

Mac malware is still in the early stages, a lot of the recent incidents have been from known PC malware groups who were sending out feelers into the Mac world. Malware these days is all about money, so whether or not these groups go after Mac users will depend on whether the cash return is worth all the development efforts.

If people can avoid being infected and falling prey to these schemes, the bad guys aren't going to make any money, and thus they will turn their attention back to the PC side.

Frankly, I'd rather have everyone informed and able to protect themselves from attack than to downplay a threat for the sake of keeping a sense of superiority. So what if a few PC-lovers make a snarky comment or two? Apple has a very large and skilled public relations team, let them defend the company's public image. I'd much rather have a clean Mac than a smug comment to make to the Apple-hater in the next cubicle.

Besides, what will it make the score? 6 million malware threats to 3 or 4?