The first virus for Macs has appeared on the scene. Known as Leap - A, it is a low level threat, but almost certainly the harbinger of future threats.

For years, Mac users have claimed the o/s to be safe and secure, with no virus problems, even 'tho the reason for that was simply because of the small amount of users, not the difficulty of creating a virus for the o/s.

Now, as with Firefox, as the number of users grows, so the creators of virus , malware etc will begin to target the Mac.

This one might not be too bad, but the ones that will surely follow should be pretty nasty. I guess now my Mac-using friends will start thinking about antivirus systems, or at least be more careful with what they do online.

I thought there were viruses affecting the Macs in the past already? Just not a lot since it's a Windows market.

I'm sure someone will find the time to give more damage to the Mac OS. All the Macs I've worked on have antivirus programs on them already...Norton. Don't know why you shouldn't..even if Macs are much safer to use than Windows-based machines...for now

Just found a free antivirus program for the Mac OS called ClamAV. Should be useful for those who like freeware/open-source programs.

I knew the day would come! I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!!!

Now Mac users can't brag about how viruses can't affect them! I'll have to update my English teacher about this as he is a Mac fanatic... total of 7 Macs in the classroom, 3 PCs.. of course, District Technology doesn't like Macs so they're kind of unsupported.. but every computer HAS to have antivirus and spyware scanners unless it is locked down with Deep Freeze since a reboot will clear a virus.

Hahaha!! I'm going to let my teacher know Tuesday when I'm back in school.

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I am a mac user and I'm not worried about it. There was a rumor a few months back about the first virus that was bull****. Mac OS requires you to enter your password to install/change anything. If people are downloading pirated software or porn from p2p networks, then they take a risk of installing something that isn't what it claimed to be. There is no virus that just infects your computer just by clicking on something. If you use common sense and only install programs from legit sites, everything will be happy.

I disagree with the argument that windows has more viruses just because windows is used more and so virus writers focus more on windows. It may be partially true. But the thing is if some thing is designed badly (with security not in focus) it will be prone to security problems.
As for Mac , one new virus after a long time is not a big deal. The big deal will be how Mac counters it and makes sure that they dont introduce new vernubilities after pacthing things.

i think MS is the king when it comes to introducing more and more bugs with patches.

I agree. MS can obviously leave security holes THEN patch it?? Why didn't you patch the hole then if you knew about it??

Firefox is already the most popular browser and I don't see any security holes in it... hmm...

Linux, one of the most widely used SERVER operating systems... I don't see servers dropping!

Apache... most widely used server. Yet there are not as nearly as many security holes in Apache as IIS (even people who have been Microsoft programmers say IIS is worthless junk).

PHPNuke CMS software & phpBB... both I don't use and both filled with security holes. It is like every few weeks or so phpBB releases a new version to "fix" the previous... remember the phpBB 2.10 worm? Yeah. Not because phpBB is popular, but because someone found a way to take advantage of a security hole!

It is simply which has more security holes.

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i googled this and couldnt find anymore infomation. im not doubting that there is a virus but what was your source on this news.

for thoses people saying that this will be the beginning of virus' and anti-virus software on mac's you must understand how osX works. osX is based on a unix operating system. that system has a very secure, but not perfect, privilage system and requires a root password before any program can be installed. it would be almost impossible to have malicious code running on a mac unless the user allowed it by mistake.

and there is a very good reason not to start running anti-virus programs like norton on mac's. one of the reason mac's are faster is because their systems are jammed up with bloated software hogging valuble system resourses.

Sources, as requested:

http://www.sophos.com/virusinfo/analyses/osxleapa.html

http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcen...osx.leap.a.html

http://vil.nai.com/vil/content/v_138578.htm

I agree that *nix based stuff is more secure then windows, but wow you guys give it too much credit haha. If people decide to start screwing with osx, I can't imagine them being "oh no... it's based on unix...can't ever hurt it!". There are independant studies done that show many security weaknesses in many non-windows OS's I'm not trying to defend M$ or diss unix... I just think you guys are making it sound little too much like unix systems are this unbreakable uber system that will never need to be changed because if you are running it nothing bad can ever happen heh

Oh and nightfox.... firefox is not the most popular browser... they have a huge market share compared to a couple years ago but still, nothing compared to IE. Also, there are numerous security holes in fierfox that get patched regularly... thats why they release updates that seem to change very little. Security fixes

So as for my views on if there is this macOSX virus. I can't see it mattering tooo much. Even though the one back then was a hoax or whatnot, if the news of one was all it would take for people to start developing them, then we would be seeing way more poppin up. Windows IS less secure, AND they have the market share hands down, meaning the punks writing viruses can do the most damage with the least effort. Why would someone bother writing a mac virus and shutting down a handful of businesses and annoying a bunch of home users, when an easier to write windows virus can make cnn in a day due to projected loss to businesses trying to rebound from downed systems.