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Can a Mac get PC Viruses?

A

Aramyth

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 12, 2009
24
0
So the topic is a little misleading, because I know that a Mac can't be affected by a PC virus. But can you still get one?

My aunt bought a MacBook Air and they wanted her to install Norton Anti Virus (it's garbage I know) on it because they told her that a Mac can still get PC viruses and pass them to another PC computer.

Is that true? Or are they just trying to prey on people who don't know much about computers?

I also own a MacBook Pro and it's my first Mac, so I'm learning some of the basic things as I go.

Thanks.
 
So then why do people say that Macs don't need anti virus protection? :confused:
 
Because its not necessary since your own Mac would not be affected. The real advantage of getting it is to make sure you don't pass on the viruses to your PC friends, though I assume most of them would be protected anyway so why do it for them?
 
omg. . . no you cannot get a PC virus on your mac and pass it along. What COULD happen is say, you get E-mailed a virus in the form of an attachment, you try to open it, but of course it does not work because its written for PC, so you send it along to your friend with a PC asking them to open it because it "won't work" on your computer, then BAM they have a virus.

What WILL NOT happen however is a worm scouring the internet, "infecting" your computer and then using your computer as a launching point to harm other computers on the network.
 
Just be careful where you download from (adult sites especially) and your Mac will be fine.
 
Aramyth said:
So the topic is a little misleading, because I know that a Mac can't be affected by a PC virus. But can you still get one?

My aunt bought a MacBook Air and they wanted her to install Norton Anti Virus (it's garbage I know) on it because they told her that a Mac can still get PC viruses and pass them to another PC computer.

Is that true? Or are they just trying to prey on people who don't know much about computers?

I also own a MacBook Pro and it's my first Mac, so I'm learning some of the basic things as I go.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

If "they" are afraid your aunt will pass viruses on to others with a PC, then "they" should offer to buy Norton for her. If your aunt is truly worried about passing PC viruses along, there are free anti-virus apps for the Mac like ClamXav. It will do an adequate job of finding Windows viruses so your aunt can't be accused of being a Typhoid Mary.
 
Tower-Union said:
omg. . . no you cannot get a PC virus on your mac and pass it along. What COULD happen is say, you get E-mailed a virus in the form of an attachment, you try to open it, but of course it does not work because its written for PC, so you send it along to your friend with a PC asking them to open it because it "won't work" on your computer, then BAM they have a virus.

What WILL NOT happen however is a worm scouring the internet, "infecting" your computer and then using your computer as a launching point to harm other computers on the network.
Click to expand...

So the folks at BestBuy are basically full of it? That's what I thought. I didn't think I could "hold" PC viruses and pass them along to PC's; unless I tried I guess?

mac2x said:
Just be careful where you download from (adult sites especially) and your Mac will be fine.
Click to expand...

I don't really download too much, and especially not from adult websites or things like Limewire or e-mail attachments. But I'm not worried about my Mac. lol I was wondering if the people at BestBuy were full of it or not.
 
Aramyth said:
So then why do people say that Macs don't need anti virus protection? :confused:
Click to expand...

Because no virus exists that runs on Mac OS X. Only trojans, which you have to install and enter your password. Any Windows user would be crazy not to have their own antivirus, so I don't feel I have to screen my files before sending them to a Windows user, trying to protect them. They should protect themselves.
 
Aramyth said:
So the folks at BestBuy are basically full of it? That's what I thought. I didn't think I could "hold" PC viruses and pass them along to PC's; unless I tried I guess?

I don't really download too much, and especially not from adult websites or things like Limewire or e-mail attachments. But I'm not worried about my Mac. lol I was wondering if the people at BestBuy were full of it or not.
Click to expand...

Your computer can "hold" a virus if a file is already infected and gets passed to you and then you pass the file along to another machine. But the Best Buy people are definitely looking for an up-sell. If you think you will be receiving infected files and then passing them along, the free ClamXav is good enough for that type of protection (especially since your machine isn't what you are protecting).
 
Can anyone please tell me if your running Windows on your mac, if you get a worm that wants to eat your hard drive, isn't the Mac data at risk too?
 
brisbaneguy29 said:
Can anyone please tell me if your running Windows on your mac, if you get a worm that wants to eat your hard drive, isn't the Mac data at risk too?
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No. The Windows partition doesn't know the Mac partition even exists. It's treated like a separate hard drive. The Windows program wouldn't be able to read the Mac format.
 
Your not going to be able to pass viruses along to PC friends from a mac. Your aunt does not need antivirus (especially Norton its 100% useless).

Heres how I know:

I work in IT and remove viruses all the time. I'm always plugging in infected harddrives into my mac to manually delete files that windows, no matter what you do cannot see. (Sasser worm comes to mind). There are many viruses I tinker with that jump from drive to drive but cannot jump to my mac (different OS, the viruses instructions cant operate on it).

The virus will remain on the infected drive so if you plug that drive back in without cleaning it to a windows machine you will get infected but as far as it jumping to mac, then back to windows it cant happen. I've tried many times.
 
chrono1081 said:
Your not going to be able to pass viruses along to PC friends from a mac. Your aunt does not need antivirus (especially Norton its 100% useless).
Click to expand...
This is completely untrue. It is quite possible for a file with a PC virus to reside on a Mac, then be transferred to a PC, where the virus will be active. However, I agree that a Mac user doesn't need AV software because every Windows user should already be protecting themselves with AV.
 
Ice-Cube said:
Because its not necessary since your own Mac would not be affected. The real advantage of getting it is to make sure you don't pass on the viruses to your PC friends, though I assume most of them would be protected anyway so why do it for them?
Click to expand...

Not completely true there. There are already multiple Trojans virus out for the OSX. AV software general will nail those Trojans before they get installed. No amount of OSX protection stops Trojans because they relay on users stupidity to get installed. OSX biggest defenses against Trojans is market share.

Most of what people call "computer Viruses" are Trojans. I want to say the last report I read was 90% of all "viruses" out there were trojans. 9% worms and 1% true computer viruses.

brisbaneguy29 said:
Can anyone please tell me if your running Windows on your mac, if you get a worm that wants to eat your hard drive, isn't the Mac data at risk too?
Click to expand...

I do not know of any computer virus out there that will reformat your drive. That is more people own fears getting the better of them.
 
Rodimus Prime said:
I do not know of any computer virus out there that will reformat your drive. That is more people own fears getting the better of them.
Click to expand...

Their used to be some, problem is that their distribution was quite limited not to mention that virus writers have little interest in wiping your hard drive. For that reason amongst all, they really aren't a problem anymore.
 
GGJstudios said:
Because no virus exists that runs on Mac OS X. Only trojans, which you have to install and enter your password. Any Windows user would be crazy not to have their own antivirus, so I don't feel I have to screen my files before sending them to a Windows user, trying to protect them. They should protect themselves.
Click to expand...

um no. i've run windows for years. i've never bothered using any anti-virus and have never had virus/malware/etc issues. face it, the only times ppl get these issues is when they try to download illegal software/try to get free porn/click on obviously fake links etc etc. it doesn't take much more than common sense to avoid these issues.
 
GGJstudios said:
No. The Windows partition doesn't know the Mac partition even exists. It's treated like a separate hard drive. The Windows program wouldn't be able to read the Mac format.
Click to expand...

Isn't one of the new features of boot camp in SL that the windows partition can read the mac partition? (read only)
 
lamadude said:
Isn't one of the new features of boot camp in SL that the windows partition can read the mac partition? (read only)
Click to expand...

If it's read only, then a Windows virus couldn't write to it and therefore, couldn't harm it.
 
Indeed, but I was reacting to comments that said that it couldn't read it.
And a windows virus would still be able to search for personal data on your mac drive (bank information, email addresses etc) and forward it to the creator of the virus. So the data on your mac drive may be safe from infection, but it can still be accessed.
 
lamadude said:
And a windows virus would still be able to search for personal data on your mac drive (bank information, email addresses etc) and forward it to the creator of the virus. So the data on your mac drive may be safe from infection, but it can still be accessed.
Click to expand...

In theory, but I've never heard of a virus/trojan that actually does this. There are very few Macs running Windows in Boot Camp with sensitive data on the Mac partition and significant email/internet use on the Windows side.
 
Rodimus Prime said:
OSX biggest defenses against Trojans is market share.
Click to expand...

No, not market share, but rabid mac fanboys.:eek: I'd shudder to think what we'd do to the first person who release the first viable mal-ware for the Mac into the wild. Poor sap would be hounded to the ends of the earth and then some.:p "Hanging's too good for him, burning's too good for him, he outta be chopped into itty, bitty pieces and buried alive.";)

Rodimus Prime said:
I do not know of any computer virus out there that will reformat your drive. That is more people own fears getting the better of them.
Click to expand...

I think Hollywood contributes a great deal to the paranoia. Every on screen virus has had devastating effects on computers. The mildest merely wipes all your data. Nastier versions cause sparks to fly from your keyboard and reduces your computer to a smoldering puddle of plastic and silicone. The worst I've seen wiping out an entire invading alien fleet.:eek:
 
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