“Of Mice and Megabytes Supplement”

CURRENT ALERT

Three major problems were recently uncovered in the Mac Operating System. According to some industry analysts, this year will see a major rise in viruses and other hacker attacks aimed directly at Mac machines. And more curious is the fact that in 2005 security holes in the Mac OS outnumbered those found in Windows. So the mantra is the same for Windows users as well as Mac patrons: Use a firewall, keep your anti-virus software current, and make sure the OS auto update feature is turned on. (Apple recently made available patches to fix 20 software vulnerabilities. Point your browser at www.apple.com/support/downloads.)

Due to a security flaw in the Firefox browsing software, users are being urged to upgrade to the latest 1.5.0.1 version. Check your version by clicking Help then About Mozilla Firefox. The upgrades are free and are available at www.getfirefox.com. And, the evitable has happened. The Mac operating system has been targeted by hackers and as of this writing three security holes have been found though not heavily exploited. Mac users can obtain the latest info from Symantec (www.symantec.com) or McAfee (www.mcafee.com).