After decades of boasting that ‘Macs don’t get viruses’, Apple Inc. has quietly advised its Mac users to install antivirus software.

Finally, Macs officially get viruses

In an official Support site posting, Apple recently suggested Mac OS users install not just one, but several antivirus products:

“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.”

The post goes on to specifically recommend Intego VirusBarrier X5 and Symantec Norton Anti-Virus 11 for Macintosh (both available from the Apple Online Store) along with McAfee VirusScan for Mac.

The Mac support site post comes in the wake of recent security community reports indicating that the Mac OS has become a target for sophisticated, organized cyber criminals.