<p>I've heard this claim to fame by mac-lovers that there is not one single virus that can be acquired while on a mac. Truth of fiction?</p>
<p>I'm just really curious, and it seems a no brainer that mac>windows if there really is not one virus, because so much money can be spent trying to recover your windows computer from a virus, or just to prevent them.</p>
<p>Fiction. Viruses for Macs are much more rare than viruses for Windows because (IMO) more people use Windows, thus it makes more sense to target Windows users rather than Mac users. I could be wrong. That’s what I’ve heard.</p>
<p>(also, check [Macintosh</a> Viruses and Mac Virus Resources](<a href=“http://antivirus.about.com/od/macintoshresource/Macintosh_Viruses_and_Mac_Virus_Resources.htm]Macintosh”>Antivirus How-To, Help & Tips) and [Macs</a> no longer immune to viruses - Security- msnbc.com](<a href=“http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12537279/]Macs”>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12537279/))</p>
<p>I’ve never heard someone go as far as “not one single virus that can be acquired while on a mac”. Sure, they’re not nearly as virus-prone as their PC counterpart, but surely there’s some floating around.</p>
<p>URichmond2010 pretty much sums it up. Windows holds a vast majority of the market, and thus, it makes more sense to target those people. (As for developing a virus for certain platforms, I don’t know if it’s easier on one or the other. That may factor into it as well.)</p>
<p>Out of personal experience, I’ve been using a Mac for quite a while now, and haven’t run into any such issues.</p>
<p>If more and more people keep buying Macs, then you’ll have just as many viruses.</p>
<p>So you can add to that problem by buying another Mac.</p>
<p>There’s also the issue that Mac OS X is inherently less secure than Windows. As Charlie Miller, the winner of this year’s Pwn2Own contest and a well-known member of the computer security community said:
</p>
<p>I’ve used both PCs and Macs for my entire life. I’ve gotten countless viruses/spyware, etc on the PCs while never getting any on the Macs. Yes, if more people buy Macs there will be more viruses, but right now the market share is only at 10%, so its not something to worry about.</p>
<p>I don’t understand why so many people get malware on their Windows installs. That never happens to me. All you have to do is restrain yourself (and others) from running every random executable you run into.</p>
<p>Note: if you run the MAC in Windows mode, you are exposed to all the Window’s viruses.</p>
<p>Mac has its own problems. User base is smaller, but they are more complacent (machines are exposed). So, crooks are starting to go after easier prey. Although the number of machines are fewer, if they get a higher yield per machine attacked, the total infected may be more worthwhile.</p>
<p>no OS is perfect. what you’ll find is that whenever there’s a vulnerability someone may have already taken advantage of it. whether or not you know about it is a different story. nowadays most malware comes from the fact that people aren’t careful about what they download. and no OS can protect against people who are careless with websites they visit and/or programs they run.</p>
<p>There is an active Bot-Net composed of Macs running right now. The Bot-Net was created by Mac users downloading and installing tampered bootleg software from Bittorrent. If you want an operating system very unlikely to be hacked, go back and get an operating system from 20 or 30 years ago if you can find an emulator.</p>
<p>Another approach is to us VM appliances for your browsing and email. Run all of your applications in disposable virtual machines and toss them when you are done with them.</p>
<p>Article on the Mac botnet: [First</a> Mac OS X botnet activated - Business - Macworld UK](<a href=“http://www.macworld.co.uk/business/news/index.cfm?newsid=25756]First”>http://www.macworld.co.uk/business/news/index.cfm?newsid=25756)</p>
<p>Of course, Macs have their own viruses (trojans mostly), but their amount is uncomparable with that of PCs.
For me the right decision was installing NetMine on my Mac. It’s a firewall that protect Mac from all kinds of infections and network threats.</p>
<p>Hackers dont waste their time making viruses for Macs. Who wants to infiltrate a computer filled with facebook pics and radio music? They rather hack into computers that run the world, with the REAL information on them</p>
<p>So no, Macs are totally impervious to viruses, but there are significantly fewer.</p>
<p>I agree with UR above. People who write viruses partly target the largest possible audience and there are far more non-Mac PC’s currently in use. Certainly, it is not a reason to buy a MAC over other PCs’, inspite of what some marketing people tell you and doesn’t make one type of machine inherently more/less vulnerable. Any group of PC’s connected together on a network have the potential to be infected, so having current virus protection software/firewalls, etc. and a little common sense when using a network go a long way.</p>
<p>It just makes sense that malicious people target Windows. As people have said, Windows holds a much larger market share, and most businesses use Windows PCs, not Macs. That said, I have no idea what you people are doing to get all these viruses and malware on your PCs! I have a basic firewall and a free anti-virus program and I have no problems whatsoever, despite some fairly dangerous activities. I ran my old computer with no firewall and no anti-virus, and I’ve had 5 years with no problem (now, however, it’s obsolete).</p>
<p>Pretty much what everyone said is true: Macs aren’t more secure themselves, it’s just not enough people use them to make an appealing target. After all, why would you go through the trouble of writing a virus/spyware program that only targets 10% of computer users? </p>
<p>That said, I don’t know how people get viruses. Steer clear of shady sites, don’t download files you don’t know, don’t click on odd links, and if you must torrent do so with a well-established file.</p>
<p>It seems to me that security software is so much better than what was available a few years ago. McAfee, Norton, etc. do a pretty good job, it seems.</p>
<p>Then again, like some have said, certain types of internet activity may expose one to more problems.</p>
<p>You can argue back and forth as to why there might be less malware for Macs, and whether or not Windows is more secure than OSX. The fact of the matter for me though, is that I have been using OSX on a daily basis for 10 years, surfing the Web, downloading files, etc. and so far I have not experienced a single virus problem. I have also never installed any anti-virus software. That’s all I need to know.</p>
<p>I have worked with both, but Windows is far more susceptible to viruses and malware due to the aforesaid factors. I recently received the avcommand.net virus on my computer (Windows XP) simply because my security features were slightly outdated and would not recognize it. In fact, the infection was so malicious that the Internet could not even function under the Safe Mode with Networking feature, which demonstrated some sort of rare complexity for a virus. I eventually completed a System Restore to some time before the infection in order to re-obtain function of the Internet under Safe Mode and downloaded a new malware removal program to finally rid the computer of 1,200 infections. I received it while perusing CC, actually.</p>
<p>Overall, I am looking forward to the purchase of another Mac, particularly after the poor security features associated with the Windows computer that I currently have.</p>
<p>Not true because every operating system is never 100% safe. Mac viruses do exist, but they are extremely rare. The number of Mac viruses out in the wild is so low that we can consider it as zero. Whoever told you that Macs will never get a virus is a complete idiot who doesn’t know anything about computers!
The only reason why Macs have very little viruses is because they share a small portion of the world’s computers, therefore less hackers/ virus writers are likely to write viruses or go after Macs. 90% of the world uses PCs. Obviously if more people use Macs, hackers will start coding for Mac viruses.</p>
<p>Really for PCs, if you know how to use an antivirus and how to properly take care of your PC, and properly maintain it, then you should be fine. Obviously use common sense and just don’t watch porn or pirate digital media, and I GUARANTEE you that you will NOT get a SINGLE virus.</p>