Misplaced Modifier

The Internet (at least the parts that center around the Mac) has exploded over kbase article HT2550, which is about antivirus utilities on the Mac. Here’s the line people are worked up about:

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 issue is the wording. ArsTechnica writer Justin Berka reads it this way:

Contrary to popular belief, there certainly are Mac viruses out there like the RSPlug trojan, but Windows viruses are more prevalent and a bit easier to get. But given Apple’s previous line on antivirus software, the fact that the company is recommending the use of multiple applications on one machine is a bit surprising. More antivirus applications apparently mean more hurdles for virus writers, so Apple recommends three antivirus utilities. The applications are Intego VirusBarrier, Symantec Norton Antivirus, and McAfee VirusScan, the first two of which retail on the Apple Store for $70 and $50 ($30 with rebate) respectively.

So, Apple wants me to install multiple antivirus applications on my Macs?

TUAW’s Michael Rose:

Apple’s prose isn’t helping matters, because while we all know that “widespread use of multiple antivirus utilities” doesn’t mean you should be installing multiple AV tools on your one, single Mac — the point is that the ecosystem should have variation, making it harder for malware writers to attack the entire population with one well-crafted vulnerability — that fine point appears to have been lost on some of those who encountered this “new” KB article.

So, Apple doesn’t want me to install multiple antivirus applications on my Macs

The BBC seems to agree with TUAW’s interpretation:

Apple recommended users try McAfee VirusScan, Symantec Norton Anti-Virus 11, or Intego VirusBarrier X5.

Note the “or” in that sentence…

The BBC’s Rory Cellan-Jones adds some sanity:

Greg Day at McAfee admitted that the threat to Mac users was relatively tiny compared to that faced by someone using Windows. “There are about 10 million unique ‘threats’ in the Windows space,” he told me, “compared with about 150 threats to the Mac OS.” But he went on to explain that a lot of new malware was now targeted not at an operating system but at cross-platform applications, like web browsers, and that meant there was a growing threat to Mac users. “It is common sense to take precautions, even if the threat is relatively small.

All that to say, Apple should qualify what they mean. Multiple anti-virus packages running at once is not only expensive, but it is a great way to muck up an OS- any OS, really. But bad writing can muck up a support article (and the Mac blogosphere) even more.