Some Mac users may think they are safe from common bugs that can cripple a computer if infected, but security issues have been raised in recent weeks as a virus capable of infiltrating the Mac OS X system was discovered.
The malicious software is known as Leap.A, or Oompa Loompa, and comes to the seemingly impenetrable Mac computer disguised as a photo file. If opened, the file attempts to send itself to anyone on the computer's contacts list, and then clogs up applications so they can't run.
But as scary as the Leap.A virus may sound, it isn't as threatening as it might seem.
Leap.A only works through social engineering - it has to be opened by the user before it can do anything. And the applications it infects can be reinstalled.
Some software experts have called Leap.A unsophisticated, and some don't even recognize it as a true virus because it's unable to spread itself.
"It's really more of a non-issue," said Bill Smith, client services consultant for The University of Memphis computer systems support department.
Compared to Windows where there are tons of viruses each year, one bug for Mac computers doesn't seem like such a big deal, Smith said.
"It's not a big threat because Mac use is small next to Windows," he said.
Jackson Gillman, freshman urban planning major, uses a Mac laptop because it's durable - not necessarily because it's safe from viruses - and doesn't feel threatened by the new virus. People run into problems with viruses because they are careless on the Internet, he said.
"File sharing is horribly insecure," he said. "That's where people get into trouble."
But even Morgan Beene, another U of M student who does use a Mac for its well-known security, said she isn't bothered by the prospect of a Mac virus.
"I won't really worry about it until I see others that are being infected," she said.
The news of the Mac virus may be blown out of proportion as a way to downplay the significance of Macintosh's famed security, Smith said.
While it might be small, Macintosh has a problem, according to Milton Craft, technical systems consultant for The U of M computer systems support department, especially Mac's new OS X with Intel.
"Hackers have had years of practice with Intel on Windows," he said.
And hackers didn't waste any time putting their practice to use on the new Mac system.
In a "Mac attack" unrelated to the newly discovered virus, an anti-pirating poem was found hidden deep inside the new operating system, according to an Associated Press report.
The poem reads: "Your karma check for today: There once was a user that whined/his existing OS was so blind/he'd do better to pirate/an OS that ran great/but found his hardware declined./Please don't steal Mac OS X!/Really, that's way uncool./(C) Apple Computer, Inc."
But the hackers were probably just having some fun with a new target, Craft said.
"Macs don't get near as much attention (from hackers) as Windows," he said.
But even if the new Mac virus is a "non-issue," people need to be cautious about what they are doing on the Internet, Smith said.
"The best advice is don't open an attachment if you don't know what it is," he said.
