New Mac Malware threats

I was contacted yesterday by a client whose Mac was compromised and her identity was stolen.  She asked me to check her Windows computer at work since she had used the Mac via GotoMyPC to access it remotely from her home.

We have anti-virus software installed on all the workstations at her office and the server, however it is always good to cross check with a top notch program like Malwarebytes which we can run manually when needed. Fortunately the workstation and SBS 2003 server were both clean, unfortunately for Mac users, they can no longer sit back smugly because of the erroneous perception that  IOS is invulnerable.  It wasn't a target before because it was too small of a market for hackers to target.  Today is a different story, as of January 2013 Apple's OS X has gained 7.08% and iOS has 60.56% of the Mobile Operating System market (as per Wikipedia), and there are new malware threats emerging every week targeting Mac users.

http://www.techspot.com/news/51689-new-mac-virus-skirts-gatekeeper-initiates-creepy-reverse-shell-connection.html

http://www.intego.com/mac-security-blog/new-targeted-attack-on-tibetan-activists-using-os-x-discovered/

http://blogs.computerworld.com/malware-and-vulnerabilities/21807/yes-mac-malware-real-even-apple-hacked-itbwcw

Which brings me to this, What anti-virus software is available for MAC users?

Intego is at the forefront of tracking and reporting new MAC malware threats and apparently has a very good product.  Their Mac Internet Security 2013 Standard is available at $37.48 online.

If you use a Mac you have already made an investment in hardware and you need to protect it to prevent what happened to my client which required wiping the system clean and re-installing everything.  Most importantly you can prevent the trouble and time to reclaim your identity.

The link below ranks the top 5 Mac anti-virus programs.  If you use a Mac and it is unprotected you owe it to yourself to at least check out what is available.

http://www.technewsdaily.com/best-mac-antivirus-software/

and Thanks for reading!