Apple Thoughts: Popularity Has a Price

"McAfee has compiled the wisdom and insight of its security researchers and produced the 2011 Threat Predictions Report. The report contains a variety of forecasts, prophecies, and educated guesses on what to expect for computer and information security next year, but one of the most notable is that Apple has achieved some level of critical mass that makes it a prime target."

It's always been implied Macs were safer than a Windows machine since malware usually went after the more popular machines, but it appears those days may be coming to an end. Of course you have always had to be vigilant against the schemes out there on the Internet, such as the bank phishing frauds, but as far as "attacks" go, the Windows machines were usually the target. Now, according to McAfee, the trend will be changing in 2011 to include Apple in the mix of targets. To be honest, the impression that Apple is immune to attacks is the biggest weakness of the system, as that tends to make people less vigilant. So this is a good warning to be extra careful. Since we are on the topic, what are your thoughts about virus protection on a Mac, do you use one? If so, which one?