Then happened, and a whole new era began.

Suddenly it became clear not only that Macs have begun to attract the attention of malware creators in a significant way, but also that Apple isn't particularly interested in helping its users out in this new era. Rather than jumping to attention with assistance in a timely manner, the company dragged its feet, denied the problem and before finally taking action.

For a company that prides itself on the safety and protection of its tightly closed "walled garden," the arrogance of Apple's reaction was beyond belief.

Regardless of your opinion of Apple and its approach, the fact is that the computing landscape is irrevocably changed in the wake of MacDefender and--later--. While these certainly weren't the first bits of malware to target Macs, they were among the few to succeed so well.