Mac users were hit with a virus last February called Leap.A, aka Oompa Loompa, that was accompanied with some fan fare. Even though Apple claimed it wasn’t a virus, it still released a patch to insure other smart kiddies didn’t ride the iChat vulnerability further. Truth was, it was a bit virus, a bit malware, a bit worm, a most certainly a bit trojan. How? Well the way Leap.A first propagated was via pretending it was an image of the upcoming release of OS X Leopard (10.5). A trojan states it’s something it’s not. Once executed, then it started messing with some applications to the point that they would no longer function correctly. As for the virus aspect, it would infect the InputManagers folder which is what leads to some of the applications no longer function (due to buggy code in the virus.) It worms its way through to other Mac users via iChat’s address book and spreads itself when friends download the “picture” from you, which of course you yourself never sent and don’t even know since it does all this in the background.

Since this minor outbreak, I’ve been asked if Macs are going to start seeing the same problem Windows users see on a daily basis. The question isn’t a simply yes or no answer, but in short, it is more yes than no.

The number one reason Windows has such a problem with viruses, trojans, malware, and such isn’t because it is such a insecure operating system (which it is), but because it is the number one operating system in use. It’s an old military trick. Go for the big target. So, that’s what is happening. But the tides are starting to come in with a bit more force on the beaches of Apple and some body surfers are now ridding in some of those currents. As Apple’s new Macs with the Intel chip become more and more popular with the buying public, so will the mostly virgin landscape for viruses become increasingly popular with viruses writers. They will seize the opportunity to trick users into thinking that their safe operating system can not be infected when an e-mail is opened or a link clicked on in a chat window. It’ll be like 1997 all over again when Windows users first started seeing the onslaught of viruses come in through their Inboxes.

But remember, there still is some of the “no” factor, too. Apple understands its investment in the Mac and OS X and won’t let it’s Tiger get mutilated by the lion share of malware in this untamed world of cyberspace. No, there are bars in this zoo and protection will be built-in. Granted, Apple has already been caught with its pants down on Leap.A; however, it has learned from this and will build upon it unlike another company that released 55 security patches last year alone…only one year after a famous letter about trustworthy computing. The best advice, in the end, is what I tell Windows users, be smart in what you open and protect yourself with a anti-virus software program if you’re not a power user.

[tags]os x,virus,leap.a,bad as windows?[/tags]