Thread: Can Apple Computers get viruses?

as has been said "Can Apple Computers get viruses? "
yes but they arent very common, MS a victim of its own success

Originally Posted by HangOver

......MS a victim of its own success

Not the whole picture. Windows was from the start designed for use by a single user, and backward compatibility being a major attraction that keeps users with Windows, it still has many of the basic design features that reflect this. These mean its security is inherently lower than the Apple Mac, which uses a variant (BSD) of Unix, which was designed from the start for multiple users, and as such had to have a basic design that stopped users from interfering with each other.

In addition, because of this background, Windows has always put ease of use ahead of almost anything else, even if this opens security problems. In many cases this is simply in the defaults (such as automatically opening email attachments or running executables on inserted discs) rather than anything inherent in the software. Apple has fewer of these problems, partly because of the constraints of using Unix.

Of course, the fact that the vast majority of internet connected desktop computers are Windows means that not only is it more productive to create viruses for Windows, but they are far more likely to spread, and there are more experts to create them. But it is also a lot easier.

John

One of the most insidious pieces of malware, the rootkit was developed on unix like operating systems for unix variants. Since then the concept has spread to other operating systems such as windows.

Anyone who has used 'Daemon Tools' to create virtual CD/DVD drives has installed a rootkit. But at least they are up front about it unlike some others, Sony for instance, who got into trouble a few years ago, secretly installing rootkits on people PCs via its music CDs.

Originally Posted by HangOver

as has been said "Can Apple Computers get viruses? "
yes but they arent very common, MS a victim of its own success

OK, name one that has spread in the wild without the user needing to install it.

Originally Posted by Captain_Rightfoot

OK, name one that has spread in the wild without the user needing to install it.

This subject pops up on here from time to time; for some reason it seems apple users seem to try to antagonize windows users because of an apparent superior OS. It would be nice just once for an apple user to admit than one OS is really not that much better or worse than the other.
It all really boils down to personal preference and marketing IMO



Its all been said before and is covered here:



Read This

Coming to a Mac near you: Mac Trojan Horse OSX.Trojan.iServices.A

Nah, it not a virus in the strict sense of the word but does it matter how your banking details get stolen.


Mac worms anyone? IBotnet Virus: Apple's First Worm

From the above article - "While the security experts probably won't come out and say it, this whole scare appears to be an elaborate to provide "conceptual truth" --ie: hackers attempting to put perceived snooty Mac users in their place by highlighting the fact that their (news flash) operating system of choice isn't so secure after all."

Originally Posted by Ferret

"While the security experts probably won't come out and say it, this whole scare appears to be an elaborate to provide "conceptual truth" --ie: hackers attempting to put perceived snooty Mac users in their place by highlighting the fact that their (news flash) operating system of choice isn't so secure after all."

Love selective quoting Also from that article

It is in the interest of software companies like Symantec, who spread the news, and McAfee, which has downplayed the presence of the Trojan, to raise concerns so they can promote their antivirus software packages, he said.
"Yes, it is going to become a bigger problem and, yes, people have to become more aware, but I think that what McAfee and Symantec would like is for the panic to start and for people to start rushing to antivirus software," which isn't necessary yet, Etherington said.

Originally Posted by Ferret

Coming to a Mac near you: Mac Trojan Horse OSX.Trojan.iServices.A

Nah, it not a virus in the strict sense of the word but does it matter how your banking details get stolen.


Mac worms anyone? IBotnet Virus: Apple's First Worm

From the above article - "While the security experts probably won't come out and say it, this whole scare appears to be an elaborate to provide "conceptual truth" --ie: hackers attempting to put perceived snooty Mac users in their place by highlighting the fact that their (news flash) operating system of choice isn't so secure after all."

Ummm... did you really read the second one? It's actually the same "virus" that you linked first...

The IBotnet virus is a Mac-specific Trojan Horse program that infects a machine only by downloading a pirated copy of iWork,

IE to get this I have to download a pirated copy of Iwork from a torrent site or similar, and install it myself by giving it my system password.

Sorry, try again.