Gone are the days of the infallible Mac. “In previous years, there used to be the point of view of, “Oh, I have an Apple. I don’t have to worry about viruses,” and to a certain extent that was true,” Marcus says. “You don’t have to worry about PC based attacks on your Mac platform, you have to worry about Mac based attacks on your Mac platform.”
Previously relatively unphased by malicious attacks, Macs will become a viable target for cybercrooks in 2011. While more users adopt highbrow gadgets like iPhones and iPads, sophisticated Mac-targeted malware will seek them out. McAfee expects an increase in Apple-specific botnets and Trojans through malicious code that works on all Mac products. “Convergence serves the bad guys really well, too,” Marcus says, saying that it’s users’ lack of security know-how with these Apple devices that will ultimately put them at risk. So iPad adopters, take note.