Of all the Linux distros I've ever used, Linux Mint was one that never sat very well with me and so I never really used it. People tried to declare their love for it being easy to use, but I would ask them about PCLinux and other safer and less bloated alternatives, and they wouldn't or hadn't tried it because it wasn't what their friends were using.
See, whenever something becomes a fad or too popular in a direction like this, they become a target because the security is reduced and the people looking to pull a Microsoft on them see a chance to be able to. Even though Ubuntu is running a close second to Mint in this department, there are at least variations to the security and kernel releases for Lubuntu, X/Kubuntu, etc to make it slightly more secure.
If you don't want to run the risk of this to happening to you, I would recommend using Debian or one of the hardened linux releases instead. PCLinux, Lubuntu, and Suse are all good alternatives for mainstream use even as-is, and they don't drop the ball like Mint's team (for some reason) does.
If you really want to stay secure, check out PCBSD (BSD unix for the desktop environment), NetBSD, or FreeBSD. Although about half of the BSD developers went out to develop linux after the licensing issues that came about during the 90's, many of them still develop for both now and there's a team history of over 40 years with rock solid development that never went away right there.
When you're using linux or unix in any serious fashion, you don't have time for games people play and hacking attempts like these.
