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> My wife yelled at me last week to come look at her computer. Her Mac had a big warning that malware had been found on her computer and to hit OK for a full scan. She didn’t click the link and I closed the browser with ho apparent harm but that is the first time I’ve seen something like than on the Mac.

Well, every website you or I visit knows, as part of the HTTP protocol and environment, what kind of computer we have (both OS and browser (agent)). It's trivial to craft a message that is correct and specific to the user.

Which is why I've always laughed when Windows-style malware dialogs appear on my Mac or Linux boxes. I mean, how lame is that???

The fact that Mac OS-X is nearly bulletproof against real viruses -- at the BSD operating system level -- doesn't mean the applications don't have holes, and CERTAINLY doesn't do a d@mn thing to prevent the user from being a naive fool and clicking boxes they shouldn't.

The only defense against "social engineering" attacks on a Mac is identical to the defense on Windows -- a combination of fierce skepticism and the ability to resist temptation. Curiosity killed the cat, I've heard...

. . . and my experience is that "fierce skepticism" is a lot easier for me to bring to the Unix box than to the Windows^TM one.

Some Windows users posting here seem to take offense at my attitude of "fierce skepticism" related to OS X virus warnings. As far as I'm concerned that's their problem, tho . . .