McAfee moves into Mac security space

The company said that it would be extending its Internet Security and Family Protection offerings to the MacOS X platform. Both products target end user markets and will require MacOS 10.5 or later.

The Internet Security offering will offer basic malware detection and firewall protections along with the McAfee Site Adviser web security service and the Secure Search tools.

For families, the company is offering a MacOS X version of the Family Protection suite. The application allows parents to monitor childrens' online activity and manage systems with protections such as web site blocks and application installation locks.

"McAfee Internet Security suite helps Apple users confidently live their digital lives," said McAfee executive vice president and general manager for consumer, mobile and small business Todd Gebhart.

"It will protect Mac users from the growing threats users experience while searching the Internet every day, and McAfee Family Protection allows parents to keep a watchful eye over their kids’ activities."

The products target what McAfee sees as a growing market for Mac security. Though the platform faces far fewer malware threats than Windows-based systems, attacks targeting OS X have become more common in recent years, as have platform neutral attacks such as phishing.