This won't kill the meme.

IE uses sanbdboxing? I thought only Chrome uses sandboxing?

SandBoxing is a core feature of current versions of OSX.

Sorry guys, but dealing with Macs is what I do for a living, however I don't work for Apple nor am I a Mac fanboy of any sort. However this is not a traditional virus. It's malware.I could write an app that wipes your Apple's drive, call it a flash installer too, and bingo. It may be called a trojan, but it is not a self replicating virus.

The myth of Macs not being a target because they aren't important does not hold any water. The simple truth is, OSX is based on UNIX, and is a harder target than a Windows system. Apple has 10% of the PC market share, that's a very tempting target. Look at how much attention a simple piece of Malware has received.

To be honest, I don't really want to come to the defense of a corporation, I just don't like misinformation going around.

I've been doing computer work for a lot of years, and I'd say that at this point there is nothing inherently more secure about OSX than Windows. It is probably more secure in some ways, but less so in others, but overall I think they're probably about the same.

This was not a virus, but then the vast majority of things that infect Windows PCs are not viruses either, and usually work the same way as this one did on the Macs. There's nothing to prevent a user from installing something on a Mac or a PC if they tell it to, and I don't think there ever will be, unless you remove the freedom to install whatever they want from the user (I know that's being looked at by funnelling everything through app stores, and not just by Apple).

I think two main things have kept the numbers of Mac malware infections down - the 10% market share in the U.S. and the fact that it's even lower in many countries where malware is written.

Malware writers know they're only going to get a small percentage of a given user base to install their malware, so targeting the largest group gives them a much higher number of successful installs. Also, in places like Russia, China and other counties across the globe, Macs are very rare, so the majoriy of malware writers don't have access to them to develop on, but they have scores of Windows PCs, and a host of malware kits with which to develop and modify. Add to that the fact that Apple ditches backward compatibility on a whim, and Microsoft works to maintain it on Windows, and you have a richer history of malware development to use on a Windows platform when compared to a Mac.

Just my 2-cents, though, and it's worth every penny.

Hi Arthonon, I think your .02 are spot on.

To be fair I think post Windows XP, PC's have done quite well when it comes to security. I would still pick OSX in a virus fight, but in general security and Malware issues they should be fairly close.

I just don't like all the misinformed hoopla :p