Ward Stanke, our PMUG Ambassador, sends important info on Mac malware: "I saw this post to the Apple Users Group Mailing List from Randy Singer (co-author of The Macintosh Bible, 4th, 5th and 6th editions).

Randy said (this is a direct quote): "If Mac users want to have all of their questions about Macintosh malware answered authoritatively, I recommend that you have a look at this Web site created and maintained by Thomas Reed: http://www.reedcorner.net/mmg/

"I trust Thomas Reed and what he has to say because he isn't biased, in that he isn't trying to sell anti-virus software as most malware reporting sites are, and he isn't a Windows user inappropriately extrapolating from that platform when speaking about the Macintosh.

"There is a companion comprehensive list of all of the malware which exists for Mac OS X, which is kept meticulously updated, here: http://www.reedcorner.net/mmg-catalog/ On the far left of this list each piece of malware is rated for its 'threat level.'"

A quote from Thomas' site: "However, it is important to keep in mind that Mac OS X already does an admirable job of protecting against malware. At this time, there is no known malware capable of infecting a Mac running a properly-updated version of Mac OS X 10.6 or later, with all security settings left at the default (at a minimum)."