There are many ways to make a profit. Some people believe that it’s perfectly acceptable to sell a product or service by increasing customers’ fear and then charging a fee to reduce that fear.

I don’t.

Let’s take “security experts” and “malware protection companies” for example. This past week, the latest in continuing string of “security warnings” for Mac OS X was issued by these people. <http://www.macworld.com/2007/10/firstlooks/trojanhorse/index.php> And of course it put the uninformed into a tizzy about the safety of their beloved Mac OS X operating system. It also inched many of them That Much Closer to buying an “anti-virus” software program from Intego, Symantec, or another company.

Bullshit.

I’m in the enviable and odd position of providing advice and guidance to graphic design professionals around the world. So, every time this happens I get emails from concerned (not yet panicked) readers. And each time it happens, I have to explain:

1. This current “threat” can only affect you if your Mac is in an extremely unlikely combination of circumstances.
2. It can’t be spread automatically from Mac to Mac because:
3. It can’t affect your Mac unless you perform an incredibly stupid series of actions, such as downloading a video of unknown content from an unknown source, attempt to watch it, believe its claim of having to update your video software system, and then — get this — provide your administrator’s password to do it. I mean seriously, are you going to do that?
4. This is the latest in a long string of deadly warnings (remember them?) that these same people have issued about Mac OS X — none of which have become actual problems for even one Mac user. Ever.
5. Have you noticed that these dire warnings of imminent attacks and vulnerabilities come from people and companies who make money off of it? (Symantec, Intego, and the “security experts”) One could argue that it’s their job, but their track record is: dozens of warnings, zero attacks. What conclusions should we draw from that?

It’s possible that one of these days, I’ll be wrong and Macs everywhere will be infected with some kind of minimally annoying bug. If you worry about that kind of thing, and would like to support the companies that promote this kind of fearmongering, then by all means send your cash to Intego or Symantec. I would recommend Intego, as their product seems to be less intrusive into your otherwise pleasant Mac experience. If you want to be protected (again, from…?) but don’t want to support the fearmongers, get the free ClamXav from http://www.clamxav.com/. It does everything the fearmongers products do, except deplete your wallet.

But if you think for even a moment about the history of malware on Macs, you’ll remember that there have been zero self-replicating Big Attacks. <http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2005/05/10/symantec_mac_false_alarm/> Yes, there have been some clever files that try to fool you into launching them and then perform a little wickedness (appropriately named “Trojan Horses”), but absolutely nothing like the nastiness that confronts Windows users every single minute of every single day. (And even those minor Mac annoyances ended NINE YEARS AGO in Mac OS 8.)

That’s right: in the 6+ year history of Mac OS X, there have been no actual attacks on real-world users.

Even in the pre-OS X days, the worst threats to a designer’s Mac came from the anti-virus utilities, and from Microsoft’s applications — which is why I recommend using neither. That’s right: anti-virus utilities from Symantec and others interfered with getting design work done because they interfered with the ability of applications from Adobe and Quark to run their file-saving routines successfully — another reason to think twice about installing anti-virus software even now.

And Microsoft’s products: don’t get me started. From the operating system all the way through to lowly Excel documents, Microsoft’s 20-year inexcusable attention to the safety of their victims, er, “customers” has damaged the economies of every nation that uses Microsoft products, to the tune of trillions of dollars. But let’s leave that for a future Rant.

As for the journalists who pander to such fearmongering I pity you. It must be incredibly painful to have such a low level of self esteem that you feel the need to draw attention to yourselves by damaging the ability of others to get their work done. Try helping people for a change. It’ll do more for your self esteem, and maybe you’ll earn back a measure of trust from your victims, er, readers.

- Jay Nelson
   Editor & Publisher
   Design Tools Monthly
   http://www.design-tools.com/

Check out All of Jay’s Rant’s & Raves.