Part 1: Macs And Viruses. Fact vs. FUD.

magnetik said:

“Trust me, Apple is growing and so are the bad guys who right code or should I say are learning to code viruses for the Mac.”

The problem with that argument is that it goes against historical evidence. OS 9 had close to 100 viruses when Apple’s market share was 3%. Now Apple has 8%+ market share but no viruses for OS X.

Likewise Atari, Amiga and BeOS are examples of OSes which had numerous viruses despite their market share being a fraction of a percent.

“Nothing is bullet proof”

Absolutely. However the biggest hole in the system is the one between the user’s ears. No amount of antivirus software will stop people doing something stupid like deliberately installing a trojan despite warnings and prompts.

“It’s only a matter of time”

I’m sure we’ll see more Mac malware in time but I doubt we’ll see anything like the malware Windows has suffered. How long are you prepared to wait? It has been 9 years now since the first release of OS X.

I’ve been running Linux for 15 years and never had a Linux virus on any of my machines. If you are sensible about the software you install and websites you visit then there should be no need for an anti-virus program.

You may think that the average Mac user’s sense of security is “false” but I think it’s justified.

Jared B. said:

The Apple OS will not be free from the threats that windows faces forever. Trust me, Apple is growing and so are the bad guys who right code or should I say are learning to code viruses for the Mac.

It’s only a matter of time. Nothing is bullet proof/ Nothing.

So yes I keep Intego around so when that first real nasty virus does come our way, my 2 grand of purchased Itunes stuff will be safe I hope. Even If I where to get wiped out, I have four hard drives in my Quad Pro. The second drive is time machine, the third drive is my os clone and the fourth drive is a third back up plan.

Never say never.

I also use it to catch windows viruses so I don’t pass on a viruses to one of my p.c. friends and yes Intego has caught two windows viruses so far that I caught somehow from the web, I believe they where e-mail viruses. Virus righters use Macs as hosts knowing that 99% of Mac users don’t have a virus program. That way they know the windows viruses will sit on your Mac and when you send out e-mails you pass them on to your p.c. friends. “FACT”

magnetik said:

Well jared, two and a half years since your comment and still no Mac viruses. Do you still think you need Intego?

jared said:

I use Intego virus barrier and Intego net barrier x5 running the back ground on my Mac. I believe it is only a matter of time before Mac’s will start to see a random attack of malware start to come out. Nothing stays safe forever and someone is bound to figure out how to get through the cracks of the OS X platform. Even if they can’t find any cracks in OS X foundation then they will most likely find themselves making those cracks for themselves to get in.

I would not be surprised if someone or allot of programers/hackers(criminals) are working on it right now.

I am still new to Mac, only joining and leaving windows back in December of 06. I don’t want this to sound like sarcasm to much but I am going to tell it how I saw it. The I went into an Apple store for the very first time to buy my Mac, I was not impressed with the employee’s at all. They all had that buffer attitude about them and that turned me off. As I picked out what Mac machine I wanted I then headed to the software isle and started looking. And what was the first thing I was looking for? An anti virus program and I found it but was told very fast by an Apple store employee that I did not need it. He kind of had a smirk on his face like he wanted to laugh. I guess it showed real strong that this was my first mac.

My point is this, it has been a year and half now (give or take a few months) and I have met more Mac users that all have that false sense of security that their Mac’s are never gonna get whacked.

Time people, Time! And if I where you I would have Intego virus barrier sitting in your background so when the time comes and it will, maybe your computer will have a chance to beat the heat.

I you do decide to buy/install/and run Intego software and have time machine turned on, then MAKE SURE YOU TURN OFF VIRUS BARRIER’S background scanner as it will interfere with time machine thus rendering it useless. Every time to try to get into time machine, time machine will lock up on you. Simply turning off the background scanner will solve this. Intego is working on the problem as I type.

The end (what a great story)