Are Macs Safe Out of the Box? (Read the Fine Print)

For a long time, Apple boasted that Macs were safer than Windows PCs, and that Macs didn’t have any security issues. But as we’ve seen (and as you can see looking at recent articles here), Apple has had to issue some very complex security updates, one of which patched more than 80 vulnerabilities.

Apple has always said that Macs were safer out of the box, but we’ve noticed, in fine print on Apple’s website, that they seem to be less sure of this. In fact, this fine print endorses the idea that Macs do need additional security software:

In case you can’t read it, it says, “A Mac running with factory settings will protect you from viruses much better than a PC, but it’s never a bad idea to run extra virus and security software.”

So even Apple is realizing that Mac security is more complicated than they make it seem. We at Intego have know this for ten years.