One out of five Macs has malware… Windows malware [research]

Sophos, a world-leading developer and vendor of security software and hardware, said on Tuesday that a high level of malware has been discovered on Mac computers. Based on the research conducted by the Sophos team, one in every five Mac computers has malware on them… Windows malware to be more accurate.

Sophos was able to conduct the research by offering free antivirus software to an estimated number of 100,000 Mac users. A shocking 20% of the users had their computers infected with one or more Windows malware. But to all Mac users out there, don’t fret yet and throw all your Macs away. Sophos said that unless you’ve installed Windows on your Mac by way of a dual-boot, your computer is safe. That’s a pretty sensible assumption since a Windows malware will only do damage if a PC is running the Windows platform.

Furthermore, it was also discovered that only 2.7% of Macs had a certain type of OS X malware, which is good news. These OS X malware was attributed to “Flshplyr” – a “Flashback” Trojan. This, however, does not mean that Mac users are safe. The fact is that in today’s digital world, no one is really safe. Just to be sure, try installing a good antivirus software.

Gene Ryan Briones
Categories: Apple, Computers
Tags: Mac (Apple), Security, Windows