The larger you get, the bigger the target you become. That's the case with Apple and its operating systems, OS X and iOS.
Historically, vulnerabilities in Apple's software have typically been lower than the number of Windows. That, of course, could also just be a reflection of the market share each has in the industry.
Microsoft and its Windows operating system does have a larger piece of the PC market pie than Apple's OS X software which then translates into more bugs and attacks made for Windows. However, as Apple continues to grow in popularity especially in mobile, this trend will turn against the Cupertino company's favor.
Currently, 13.5 percent of the world's smartphone shipments are coming from Apple while almost twice that — 7.5 percent — of all desktop computers sold are Macs.
"The perception has been for a number of years that Apple computers are safer than Windows," said Satnam Narang, security specialist at Norton. "The risk is lower for Apple devices, but the risk is still there."
In fact, Symantec recently reported [pdf] that attacks against Apple have even doubled in the past year. Compared to the first nine months of 2014, the number of OS X machines infected with malware is seven times higher in the first nine months of this year.
Symantec's security researchers further revealed that they found at least 22 threats targeting Apple's software since June 2014. Over the same amount of time, the security company says nine threats attacked iOS specifically. In the 18 months prior to June 2015, only one threat was spotted back then.
Most Apple devices that do get infected though are those that have been jailbroken. Moreover, of the number of threats attacking Apple's software, nine of them can only infect jailbroken devices. Most of the malicious activity surrounding Apple's software is originally what is often called "greyware." These are mostly annoying and bothersome apps like spyware, adware, and other less harmful files and programs that aren't as heavy-hitting as malware.
Overall, as Symantec reported, "Apple users should not be complacent about security. They need to take precautions in order to prevent their devices from being compromised."
