Adding Reply Topic Exactly how virus-proof are Macs? Membername   Not a member? Sign Up Free (takes 20 seconds) Password   Forgotten your password? Post Font: Verdana Arial Black Georgia Comic Sans Impact   Size: Tiny Normal Big Huge   Color: Default Dark Red Red Orange Brown Green Olive Cyan Blue Dark Blue Indigo Black [ Check Spelling ] [ Post Preview ] [ LiveTags ] FAQ Keyword Search: Post Options Favorites Manager Notify me of new replies to this topic by email Notify me of new replies to this topic by private message Original Post look over here Posted at 8:22 pm on April 6, 2009 Is it really that much harder for a Mac to get a virus than a PC?

Replies anonomouse Posted at 12:49 am on June 30, 2009 Why macs don't get viruses: They are still relatively obscure (not many people use them, especially in large networks) There is probably not much company/financial data on macs. It's mostly PCs that take care of that. This gives coders less incentive to write viruses OS X is built on Unix, which is much more solid and secure than Windows OS X completely disables the root account so that most average users can't mess with the computer even if they tried.  Thus, viruses can't exploit the root privileges because it is disabled. OS X has more security that will make you type your password before any virus has access to your system. In the end, writing a virus for OS X is not hard at all. It's just it's harder to write a virus that can install without the user noticing. Sector Corrupt Posted at 2:26 am on June 16, 2009 Quote: from allsmiles at 4:11 am on June 16, 2009 Quote: from Niick at 8:14 pm on June 15, 2009 Quote: from espresso8097 at 2:23 am on April 10, 2009 Quote: from soldierofjustice3 at 9:11 am on April 9, 2009 Quote: from Mikoto at 4:52 am on April 8, 2009 Ive never had a virus on my mac, and I've never installed any anti-virus software or run any tests.          I don't miss having to run tests all the time and have shitloads of software installed. :)       If you've never had it scanned, how do you know your install is clean?         Because Apple products are just that awesome.    If theyre so awesome how come theyre obsolete within 8 months? I'm pretty sure he was being sarcastic :P It's hard to tell with them apple users. They can just be so fanatical about how much better macs are.   allsmiles Posted at 1:11 am on June 16, 2009 Quote: from Niick at 8:14 pm on June 15, 2009 Quote: from espresso8097 at 2:23 am on April 10, 2009 Quote: from soldierofjustice3 at 9:11 am on April 9, 2009 Quote: from Mikoto at 4:52 am on April 8, 2009 Ive never had a virus on my mac, and I've never installed any anti-virus software or run any tests.   I don't miss having to run tests all the time and have shitloads of software installed. :)   If you've never had it scanned, how do you know your install is clean?      Because Apple products are just that awesome. If theyre so awesome how come theyre obsolete within 8 months? I'm pretty sure he was being sarcastic :P Niick Posted at 12:14 pm on June 15, 2009 Quote: from espresso8097 at 2:23 am on April 10, 2009 Quote: from soldierofjustice3 at 9:11 am on April 9, 2009 Quote: from Mikoto at 4:52 am on April 8, 2009 Ive never had a virus on my mac, and I've never installed any anti-virus software or run any tests.       I don't miss having to run tests all the time and have shitloads of software installed. :)    If you've never had it scanned, how do you know your install is clean?     Because Apple products are just that awesome. If theyre so awesome how come theyre obsolete within 8 months? Niick Posted at 12:13 pm on June 15, 2009 Quote: from GaelicFreak at 11:26 pm on April 6, 2009 My brother's downloaded tons of shady shit and we haven't gotten a virus yet. So it's pretty hard. No, that's because windows viruses cannot effect Macs. Theres no Mac viruses on those sites, because theres no point in attacking a few dozen users. dkruges Posted at 10:15 pm on May 18, 2009 It's because: 1. Not many people develop viruses for the Mac because of the market share 2. The security seems to be higher on Macs I m Batman Posted at 4:52 pm on April 21, 2009 Post from this position was omitted due to content violations someone16 Posted at 11:05 am on April 18, 2009 In future Macs will have a lot of viruses. But also more anti-virus software. oink Posted at 2:04 pm on April 16, 2009 Researchers dissect world's first Mac botnet ElfQrin Posted at 7:00 am on April 13, 2009 Technically it could happen. But Macs are: 1) More secure 2) No one writes them So it doesn't happen that much. Yes, tehre are virii out for Macs but chances are you prolly aren't going to get them. espresso8097 Posted at 11:23 pm on April 9, 2009 Quote: from soldierofjustice3 at 9:11 am on April 9, 2009 Quote: from Mikoto at 4:52 am on April 8, 2009 Ive never had a virus on my mac, and I've never installed any anti-virus software or run any tests.  I don't miss having to run tests all the time and have shitloads of software installed. :) If you've never had it scanned, how do you know your install is clean? Because Apple products are just that awesome. soldierofjustice3 Posted at 7:11 am on April 9, 2009 Quote: from Mikoto at 4:52 am on April 8, 2009 Ive never had a virus on my mac, and I've never installed any anti-virus software or run any tests.   I don't miss having to run tests all the time and have shitloads of software installed. :) If you've never had it scanned, how do you know your install is clean? Sector Corrupt Posted at 12:47 pm on April 8, 2009 Meh, as has been pointed out, you can make viruses for these systems. I've actually read an article about how bragging about there being no way to get a virus (though this was for linux, but they function similarly) was absolutely false. The author proceeded to write a simple virus, though he couldn't make it self-running and it exploited the type of desktop over just the core Unix system, but I assume Mac also suffers from that. Either way, the real reason fewer viruses get caught is because fewer viruses are made, plain and simple. Mikoto Posted at 7:52 pm on April 7, 2009 Ive never had a virus on my mac, and I've never installed any anti-virus software or run any tests. I don't miss having to run tests all the time and have shitloads of software installed. :) GaelicFreak Posted at 8:26 pm on April 6, 2009 My brother's downloaded tons of shady shit and we haven't gotten a virus yet. So it's pretty hard. 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