Apple tones down language touting OS X security measures

Apple's website used to boldly claim that the Mac "doesn't get PC viruses," but following the spread of the Flashback botnet, the company has since toned down the language to say that OS X is "built to be safe."

The changed list of features on Apple's promotional website for OS X was first noticed by PCWorld. Another headline on the site used to say that users could safeguard their data "by doing nothing," but the page has since been changed to read, "Safety. Built right in."

The new, revised language is less boastful about OS X security, and the it no longer mentions "the thousands of viruses plaguing windows-based computers." Rather than putting down Windows PCs, Apple now simply focuses on how OS X helps to keep users safe.

The changes come just a few months after more than 600,000 Macs were estimated to have been infected by a trojan horse named "Flashback." More than half of the Macs believed to be infected by the botnet were found in the U.S. alone.

The first iteration of the malware appeared in 2011 disguised as an Adobe Installer. Following installation, Flashback harvests sensitive data like user IDs, passwords and web browsing history and sends the information to an off-site server.

After the malware began to spread rapidly, Apple responded by releasing a number of software updates to block Flashback. Apple also issued a Flashback-specific malware tool in April.

109 Comments

tallest skil 43086 comments · 14 Years

About 12 years ago

If there's any better reason for the removal of Flash and Java, let me hear it. "Pathetic performance" might fit that bill.

thataveragejoe 832 comments · 13 Years

"Safeguard your data. By doing nothing." was a terrible tagline in all senses anyway.

gadgetcanada 423 comments · 12 Years

I'm sure after the Australia 4G advertising lawsuit, Apple's lawyers scoured all of the promotional material to see what could be future lawsuit material. If anyone lost any data to a Mac virus and Apple is saying "to protect your data, do nothing", it's an automatic lawsuit. Going forward, I'm sure all advertising will be going through the lawyers for a final check.

quadra 610 6685 comments · 16 Years

PR. They had to.

The average user doesn't know the difference between "trojan" and "virus" and "malware." In fact, Joe Lunchbox lumps everything into the "virus" category.

Next time a trojan shows up for OS X (we get one or two every few years, Lol) they'll scream "virus!!!" and there goes the neighbourhood.

And whereas media coverage about the precious few pieces of OS X malware in the past was next to nonexistent, Apple's brand name has

garnered more attention over the past few years than ever. Count on the news about next trojan (maybe sometime next year)

to clog tech news sites and mainstream news outlets.

Apple doesn't need to deal with that kind of bullish*t. Can't blame them for modifying the PR blurb.

It wasn't necessary, but the possibility for negative PR arising from consumer misunderstanding (or rather, ignorance) is far too great.

MacPro 19811 comments · 18 Years

[quote name="GadgetCanada" url="/t/150899/apple-tones-down-language-touting-os-x-security-measures#post_2134031"]I'm sure after the Australia 4G advertising lawsuit, Apple's lawyers scoured all of the promotional material to see what could be future lawsuit material. If anyone lost any data to a Mac virus and Apple is saying "to protect your data, do nothing", it's an automatic lawsuit. Going forward, I'm sure all advertising will be going through the lawyers for a final check. [/quote] Excellent point.