The days when Mac users need not worry about their computers getting infected with malicious software may be coming to an end.
Internet security experts say that cyber-criminals have begun targeting users with Fake Antivirus Malware. To date, hackers have focused on writing malicious software for machines running Microsoft Corp's Windows operating system, which inhabits more than nine of every 10 PCs.
Security firm McAfee has seen "a steady stream" of these anti-malware viruses appear over the Internet in the past week as it scours the Web for malicious software, said Dave Marcus, one of the company's top researchers.
The fake anti-virus malware is downloaded when people click on links from tainted search engine results for popular queries, Marcus said. It also spreads when users click on links to malicious sites that might be included in emails, Tweets or Facebook messages.
"This is the first time we've seen something hit en masse," said Chet Wisniewski, senior security adviser with anti-virus software maker Sophos, a rival of McAfee.
Wisniewski's company located a version of the fake anti-virus software for Macs that caused pornography to show up on a machine's screen every few minutes, to convince users their machines did indeed need to be cleaned of malware.
Independent Mac security experts believe there is enough security built into the OS X operating system to protect users, given the current level of risk.
If users want extra protection, they should obtain anti-virus software from a company that they are sure is a legitimate vendor, said Dino Dai Zovi, co-author of The Mac Hacker's Handbook. He advised users to obtain that software through the Mac App Store.
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