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Has anybody ever had a virus on their Mac?
- Thread starter ruk110
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Well, not entirely true - there have been a couple Mac worms hidden in pirated versions of software. However, there has never been a virus that targets OS X that has spread 'in the wild', nor has a Mac gotten infected without the user making a series of HUGE mistakes, so nothing like the situation that has existed in Windows for years.
That being said, there are still lots of serious vulnerabilities in OS X and various applications, but at this point, nobody has released exploits for them. It's unclear why that is the case - probably some combination of the Mac's relatively small market share and how much easier it is to go after the millions upon millions of PCs still running unpatched Windows XP.
That being said, there are still lots of serious vulnerabilities in OS X and various applications, but at this point, nobody has released exploits for them. It's unclear why that is the case - probably some combination of the Mac's relatively small market share and how much easier it is to go after the millions upon millions of PCs still running unpatched Windows XP.
you hear a lot of people saying that mac's don't get viruses, but is it 100% true? have any of you lot out there ever had any viruses on your mac? i havent...
Yeah, they do exist. It is significantly harder to get one than the PC.
no.
it was a botnet trojan, hidden in iWork 09 and photoshop CS4 downloaded off bittorrent.
anyway it does not classify as a virus. besides os x is now aware of it and will warn the user, if install is attempted.
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Just to clarify, there are no known viruses that exist in the wild that affect OSX
There are however, a few well publicized trojans that travelled with some pirated software (Adobe's Creative Suite and iWork) and through some porn downloads
The simple difference is, viruses require no user input to execute
Trojans, on the other hand, require the user to install them by using their administrative password
The best anti virus for the Mac and OSX is safe computing practices and common sense. Only download software from reputable sources. Know what you are downloading and from where, and know what you are installing when you enter your administrative password.
OSX can carry and transmit Windows viruses, but they do not affect the Mac
There are however, a few well publicized trojans that travelled with some pirated software (Adobe's Creative Suite and iWork) and through some porn downloads
The simple difference is, viruses require no user input to execute
Trojans, on the other hand, require the user to install them by using their administrative password
The best anti virus for the Mac and OSX is safe computing practices and common sense. Only download software from reputable sources. Know what you are downloading and from where, and know what you are installing when you enter your administrative password.
OSX can carry and transmit Windows viruses, but they do not affect the Mac
Also, the transmission of Windows viruses from OS X is not automated. A user has to manually forward the infected email, manually drag the malicious files onto a USB drive, or etc.
Viruses for Mac OSX DO exist, theres just not anywhere near as many. Over the last 10 years Macs have been getting more poplular so people writing viruses will start to target the Mac world too.
If you use a USB stick or recieve emails from a PC then viruses can be attached to your files. While it is unlickely they can harm a Mac they can be spread to otheres via emails etc...
Ive been using Virus Barier X for about 8 years and not had a problem. If you buy things online and/or access your bank accounts online you would be foolish not to have any anti virus software.
Also, now the iPads are getting very popular people will be writing more viruses/spyware for them.
If you use a USB stick or recieve emails from a PC then viruses can be attached to your files. While it is unlickely they can harm a Mac they can be spread to otheres via emails etc...
Ive been using Virus Barier X for about 8 years and not had a problem. If you buy things online and/or access your bank accounts online you would be foolish not to have any anti virus software.
Also, now the iPads are getting very popular people will be writing more viruses/spyware for them.
as long as you dont get the idea of installing norton for Mac on your iMac then everything is fine , you ask why not norton hmm let me explain it with a example if you do it will transform the speed of your iMac i7 below the performance of a old core duo , norton is hogging every bit of the system and tries to control it , i see norton as malware and less then helpful against any virus that may eventually exist in the future for Mac's
and for the ones who foolishly bought norton and installed it on their i7 already , unleash the power of your i7 iMac and deinstall norton
norton is bad enough on a windows pc and only makes sense if you deliberately want to slow down the system, which is not necessary as you already run windows on it
and for the ones who foolishly bought norton and installed it on their i7 already , unleash the power of your i7 iMac and deinstall norton
norton is bad enough on a windows pc and only makes sense if you deliberately want to slow down the system, which is not necessary as you already run windows on it
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Evidence?
You know that, a trojan or a worm or a spyware are NOt the same as viruses, do you?
There have been NO viruses for Mac OS X yet, but some trojans, which piggybacked on pirated software to be installed onto a Mac, as one needs to manually install malware on a Mac to have that malware have access to the system via entering the password for the admin account.
Something to read: https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/9400648/
Not since 1995.
Iwork 2009 had viruses attached to the files. Also Bit torrent files can have viruses. Last reported was also 2009. Check out the link i post above. Most recent is 2009.
They were trojans, not viruses. Not exactly the same.
What is the difference between viruses, worms, and Trojans? (http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPOR...8825675100593eb2?OpenDocument&src=sec_web_nam)
That is not a virus. You have to manually accept the file and open it. A virus installs with no user intervention at all.
the future will tell if it was a good choice to make windows run on Mac's without emulation , a lot of script kiddies who have nothing else to do all day apart from gaming and creating malware (viruses, trojans ,worms ) , so sooner or later these will find a way of getting a virus to have a impact on osx ,
now they got all they need, their windows and osx and even linux on one computer to create malware
now they got all they need, their windows and osx and even linux on one computer to create malware
Very good!!
You mustn't believe everything you read! The so-called virus they refer to, as already explained, has to be user activated and, at the worst, can only be categorised as Malware.
In my opinion, Sophos could be congratulated on a marketing ploy to tempt the unknowledgeable into buying their malware protection products!
I've been a "nothing-but" Mac User for about 5 years.
I download and "obtain" music and movies.
The sources are solid, but I did the same on my Windows machine, and by the 2 year mark, the damn thing was so damn bogged down with crap, it was un-useable.
I download and "obtain" music and movies.
The sources are solid, but I did the same on my Windows machine, and by the 2 year mark, the damn thing was so damn bogged down with crap, it was un-useable.
I'm late to the party on this one they CAN get them but its very rare and I have never gotten one in the 5 months I have owned my Mac.
NO. How can one get one, if there is NOT one virus out there?
There is other malware one can get, but if one uses common sense (rare I suppose), one can be malware free a very long time.