He doesn't feel so good. (Wikimedia Commons)

Freedom from fear of viruses, malware, botnets, and other digital nasties has long been a major benefit of Mac ownership. But today brings sad tidings: That carefree attitude will soon be no more.

Of course, Macs were never protected by some super-secret security technology, but largely by simple lack of interest on the part of bad actors. Apple simply didn’t own a big enough slice of the market to make Macs worth their while. But those days are now done. Ars Technica reports that, in a press conference yesterday, Kaspersky Lab security researchers were blunt: “Mac OS X invulnerability is a myth.”

They continued, hammering nails into the coffin of the Mac owner’s sense of security:

Expect more drive-by downloads, more Mac OS X mass-malware. Expect cross-platform exploit kits with Mac-specific exploits.

It’s worth noting that all this hellfire-and-brimstone talk is largely speculation about the future. Flashback, the exploit that prompted the panic, has proved relatively easy to rout. Since April 6th, the number of infected computers has dropped from 700,000 to 30,000. The inclusion of GateKeeper in Mountain Lion will likely also help keep threats at bay. Nonetheless, researchers recommend the addition of antivirus software, pronto.

Is there an app for that?