CUPERTINO, CA — Never mind. Apple takes it all back. There’s no need to install antivirus software if you own an Apple computer, because they’re safe “out of the box.”Aren’t all computers safe “out of the box?” It’s what happens afterwards that’s usually the problem.
Although a notice on the Apple support site yesterday recommended that Mac users adjust to a modern, malware-ridden world by installing multiple antivirus utilities and employing them regularly to keep their systems sparkling clean – that notice is now gone.
It wasn’t removed because multiple antivirus programs can go to war with one another over system resources.
According to Bill Evans, a representative for Apple, “We have removed the Knowledge Base article because it is old and inaccurate.”
How it could be “old and inaccurate” when Evans explains that “the Mac is designed with built-in technologies that provide protection against malicious software and security threats right out of the box,” is, of course, an excellent question.
Are these “built-in technologies” new or is what Evans says as he continues closer to the truth when he points out that “since no system can be 100-percent immune from every threat, running antivirus software may offer additional protection.”
Part of the confusion arises from the fact that, although some product pundits assumed a support note that was updated last month was new, it actually saw publication last year – which only further muddies the waters surrounding the always impervious-to-malware claim.
As CNET blogger Elinor Mills points out, Rich Mogull, security editor of Apple news site TidBITS, thinks the computer manufacturer simply decided to remove a sloppily worded support note.
“I bet you it was a low-level support note and it hadn’t gone through the right approvals,” he proposes, without explaining why it lingered for a year and even saw tweaks.
So, although malware is increasingly designed to attack non-platform specific programs and not operating systems, Apple only advises its users to slip into an antivirus application if they feel the need for “additional protection.”
