These are my personal opinion and not pronouncements by Intel.
FUD -- Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt -- a campaign designed to use a person's fears against them to cause them to either act against their own best interests or keep them from acting.
A lot of security work is raising awareness of real threats and sometimes of potential threats. However, like the boy who called wolf, the strategy doesn't always work and sometimes backfires. In my humble opinion, that appears to be true for threats against the Apple Macintosh today. As security workers have zealously tried to show that Apple users were not immune to threats, nor are Linux users, we have inadvertently paved the way for exactly such threats to happen.
While Apple users are not immune to threats, the raising of fears has enabled a specific kind of attack to be leveled against them. An attack that the more smug and naive among them would ignore and be immune to. It is poetic irony. The ones who listened are at the highest risk.
The attack is Fake Anti-Virus Software (sometimes referred to as "Rogue" AV). This is software the claims to be software to protect your computer, but which is actually a virus. So, yes, it is a virus that attacks Mac users. However, it only attacks those who are trying to protect themselves from such viruses. Thus, the conundrum.
The truth is that there are real anti-virus programs that do help protect your Mac. Running one of them is a good idea. You will be safer if you do. However, a real anti-virus program is not likely to be sent to you in an email, nor if you get a virus is it likely to pop-up on your screen and fix your program if you just send money to a web-site. Those are most likely fakes.
The real issue is that most attacks are still Social Engineering attacks, con games designed to mislead you. No program can protect you against bad judgement, especially not when coupled by bad luck. If you click on a link (or read an email attachment) that promises too much, it is likely that the link (or email) will download a virus onto your system. Some viruses such as those running on FaceBook don't even need your computer, so it doesn't matter what kind you have.
The virus writers of the world are out to trick you. If they can do so, by playing on your fears, they will do that too.
So, do some research and find a reputable anti-virus vendor that makes a Mac version and downloaded it before you are infected. Doing that in a calm time where you can way the options will help you make a rational decision.
However, if you don't follow that advice and find yourself infected, don't just click on the software the pops up on your screen promising a quick fix. That's most likely a scam. Again, calm down and find a reputable place to have your computer repaired. It may cost you a few days to do so, but in the long run it will probably save you money, because the virus will actually get removed and you won't have sent the virus writers any money rewarding them for their efforts.
