there is still not a single virus, in the wild, that attacks OS X.
The major AV companies would be very happy for you to lay down your hard earned cash to purchase their products but they always have a hard time telling us exactly what Mac virus's they protect against.
Note that I did not, and do not, say that OS X is bulletproof. One day, someone will eventually manage to write a self-propagating virus for OS X.
It is important to be clear about what a virus does. It must have the ability to sneak onto your machine, place itself into a critical area, infect it, replicate itself and then dispatch itself to other machines. They usually email themselves to every email address they can find on a machine.
This has not happened with OS X in the last 7 years.
Social Engineering, on the other hand, is something that there is not much protection against. If I were to send you a little AppleScript and told you to run it, would you? Probably not, but others would if I changed its name to Office 2004 for OS X and increased its size a little. So, if my little AppleScript deleted the contents of your Music & Picture folders, would the AV companies start to scream about a "New Virus that deletes music and pictures", you bet. Only problem is that this script would come to and end on your machine and not go anywhere else so it does not qualify as a virus.
Launching unknown apps is a risk we all take when we download freeware or shareware and believe the description. This is how Limewire and other P2P sites are used to spread virus's.
BTW, the Office 2004 scenario; it happened on Limewire in 2004!
Bottom line. The free ClamXAV will do exactly the same as Symantec/NetBarrier/Mcaffee but for a much better price. It will also spot Windows virus's that are sent to you. You can then get that warm fuzzy feeling when you do NOT forward the infection on to one of your less enlightened friends.
There is nothing wrong with 10.3.9; especially if it is the highest OS that your machine will comfortably support.
P
Peter,
i recently received an offer from Smith Micro, a portion of which i have pasted herewith: "With Intego VirusBarrier X4 on your Mac, you can rest assured that your computer has the best protection available against viruses of all kinds."
My own question: are we old timey mac operators still as bullet proof as we used to be ? i recall many postings from you on the subject of: we just don't have that kind of problem on the mac, and generally enjoyed your derisive scorn and witty repart

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