Apple, the future target?

The survey, "Big Mac attack or super-sized hype?" revealed that 93 percent out of 355 respondents believed Apple computers will be increasingly targeted in the future, a 14 percent increase from a similar survey conducted only two years ago where 79 percent believed Apple computers would become more commonly targeted by hackers.

However, 50 percent of respondents said despite an increase targeted Windows attacks will still outnumber Apple.

"Yes, the Macintosh malware threat is a concern - but it's important to put it in perspective," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos.

"Although we have seen the first attempts by criminal gangs to make money through Mac OS X malware, the fact of the matter is that there is only a tiny number of viruses and Trojan horses for Apple Macs when compared to Windows PCs. It seems unlikely that the Mac virus problem will ever be as big as the Windows one," he said.

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