Apple pulls "inaccurate" antivirus warning

 

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By Stuart Turton

Posted on 3 Dec 2008 at 10:34

Apple has removed its warning to Mac users to install security software, claiming Macs are "safe out of the box."

"We have removed the knowledge base article because it was old and inaccurate," says Apple spokesperson Bill Evans. "The Mac is designed with built-in technologies that provide protection against malicious software and security threats right out of the box."

The initial warning appeared in a low-key message on the support forums and caused a flurry of debate on the internet.

"Apple encourages the widespread use of multiple antivirus utilities so that virus programmers have more than one application to circumvent, thus making the whole virus writing process more difficult," it read.

Apple has continually played down the threat of viruses on the Mac platform, using them as a weapon in its war against Windows.