Spyware and Viruses

[garethslee]

Looking to purchase an iMac very soon. I've been a Windows user for 12 years and I'm sick and tired of viruses and spyware/malware.
A colleague claims the Mac is virtually immune to attack.

Is this true?

I'm guessing virus writers aren't going to waste their time with Macs, but is spyware more of a problem?

BTW is it Macs or macs?

Regards
Gareth Slee

 

[Dont Hurt Me]

for the most part it is, who wants all that hassle? not me. though you may not know it i came within inches of buying a Pc but another virus came out and sealed it for me. to much bs. a computer should be fun,fast and easy not a constant battle with viruses,worms spyware and windows. This is why Macs rule. there are plenty more reasons but iam hoping the next reason will be the G5-Imac! come on Apple get a move on it and take my money.

 

[kgarner]

While not immune to attacks, they are less vulnerable and currently there are not any exploits to speak of for the Mac. This website has some good write ups about the security vulnerabilities that have to come to recent attention on the Mac.

 

[7on]

Bah, no viruses on OSX.
No Spyware... that I know of (looks around)

Though I do keep my firewall on... you know just in case.

 

[Horrortaxi]

No viruses, no spyware, no huge gaping seurity holes that we know of. That doesn't mean there won't be these problems in the future and it certainly doesn't mean you're immune to attacks--but you're in good shape if you're on a Mac.

 

[FightTheFuture]

i've never really thought that spyware and viri were a reason to avoid a pc. the majority of pc users obviously don't care and or are more careful. the buzz is that the imacG5 will be released at WWDC, so it may be a good idea to wait.

 

[cb911]

well there aren't nearly as many problems with virii etc as there are on PC, that's for sure. but you should keep your Firewall on of course, viruses aren't the only thing to watch out for.

i'm pretty sure that there are keyloggers and those types of apps for OS X, so it still pays to be cautious.

i think anther good thing about Macs is that since OS X is based on UNIX, there are alot of apps that are very easy to port to OS X. i would say that the same would go for security issues, but i'm not sure.

any yes, it's Mac, not mac.

 

[adamjay]

considering that most switchers i have talked to have switched mainly because of security reasons (virii, worms, spyware, adware, etc.) and are happy with the switch... one could conclude that the security crown goes to OSX.

i personally don't run any anti-virus software and i gotta say, its nice using my computer to WORK instead of constantly trying to just keep it afloat.

 

[FattyMembrane]

we use windows where i work and it always amazes me how people put up with turning on the computer, waiting for scandisk to run because some explorer.dll file crashed the whole machine last time, waiting for norton to scan the computer for viruses and then finally getting to work. it's honestly about a 10 minute process, not to mention that you have to have norton scan all of your mail, and all incoming media we use (cds and such).

then i go home, and boot up my mac (if i haven't just left it running), no disk scans, no virus checks, no 4 hours every month defragging my hard drive, no messing with the registry because internet explorer let through a bunch of spyware, no spam in my inbox because mail automatically filtered it out...

it's nice to have a computer that fixes my problems, rather than the other way around.

 

[OSUbuckeyefan]

AirPort Firewall

Hey I use the AirPort base station for my broadband internet connection. I understand that the AirPort itself contains a firewall. Is AirPort's firewall sufficient to keep out viruses and hackers?

Thank you for the clarification.