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Thread: Do Macs get viruses?

  1. #1
    Filmmaker J-Luv's Avatar
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    Do Macs get viruses?

    everyone says most of the viruses out on the net are made mostly for windows platforms. do Macs not have to worry about viruses? do i still need virus protection for a Mac if I'm connected to the internet?
    Never take life too seriously. Nobody makes it out alive anyways. Film Portfolio


  2. #2
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    I've been a mac guy for about 5 years, and have never had any problems with Viruses. Safari and Firefox both have pretty good pop-up blockers, which is really the only thing you'd have be annoyed by. Even destructive spyware and adware won't affect you. UNIX is such a strong system, and we're such a thin part of the population that people who write that crap don't waste their time on us. (knock on wood, of course.) Safari even has a function where you can "surf privately," and nothing will be saved to your history, cache, or cookies. It also has a "reset safari" function, so you can clean all of those out at once. I'm not saying that junk isn't out there, but it's never been a problem for me.

  3. #3
    ....he's amazing!!! lesli_felix's Avatar
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    Actually, there are viruses for macs, but they're quite buggy, they tend to crash a lot, run too slowly and often run out of memory. The windows ones are much more reliable.

    So I hear.....

  4. #4
    I have been a mac user for about the same, 5-6 years and I have never had a virus nor do I have to worry about spyware. I would still use the one mac recommends and also make sure that you keep up with the updates for mac, but otherwise, all the threats you hear about are usually windows related.

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  5. #5
    supervillain gerbick's Avatar
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    tracking cookies still exist as an issue pertaining spyware. but that's nothing compared to the Windows side of the world.

    but virus? none. especially since MacOS X needs to have confirmation of the root user/admin password to even be installed.

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    Filmmaker J-Luv's Avatar
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    and thas why i'm working on getting that iMac now...
    Never take life too seriously. Nobody makes it out alive anyways. Film Portfolio


  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by J-Luv
    and thas why i'm working on getting that iMac now...

    Good Luck, I think you will be happy with it. I have my pc, and I work on pc's all day long, but I love my mac, and love the fact that I don't have to work on it, I just use it, it works, and I move on.

    Good Luck with your iMac.
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  8. #8
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    Macs are not significant or worthy enough for serious virus writers to actually take time and write a virus for them. Why would they write a virus for an OS less than 5% of computer users use.

  9. #9
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    There is a mild risk of virus/spyware on the mac ... very mild risk so far.

    however as the mac/unix crowds are now combined it's a slightly larger target. Unfortunately both groups have been smugly claiming to be the safest place on the net for years. This is fluttering the cape in front of the bull. If you piss on the idiots who write viruses and hack into machines ... they will bring their infestations towards you.

    BTW... parasites (human kind) can hack into a mac through a variety of methods.

    So, I would advise a router with firewall, and some form of virus protection... especially if you go near any educational environment. Also be cautious of anyone who can script or code for the Mac platform. A variety of performance evaluation tools already exist for macs ("Bossware"). These can easily be abused.

  10. #10
    Script kiddie VENGEANCE MX's Avatar
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    I've used Macs all my life, along with spending pretty much the entire time surfing the internet. I have NEVER had a virus on my Mac, and I seriously don't believe that any viruses have been written for OS X that will still work if you've got all the security updates.
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  11. #11
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    total Virus writen for the MAC is like 68 and for windows was over 97,000 If I can find that page again that did the study I will post for some good reading.

  12. #12
    Filmmaker J-Luv's Avatar
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    i wonder if thas all gonna change when they switch to intel
    Never take life too seriously. Nobody makes it out alive anyways. Film Portfolio


  13. #13
    ....he's amazing!!! lesli_felix's Avatar
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    Doubt it. Any more than AMD users are any less at risk than intel users on PC's. It's an OS compatibility issue, rather than a hardware issue.

    It might change if mac users keep bragging about how safe they are though. ;-)

  14. #14
    Senior Member SJT's Avatar
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    It's partly the "small population" factor, but also there's a huge difference in the way that the security model is implemented on Mac OS X/*nix compared to Windows.
    Sam



  15. #15
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    The intel is just the processor - its not the OS - But I was at a meeting the otherday and heard that once apple gos to the intel that you should beable to run windoze xp on it. But who would want to do that??

  16. #16
    Filmmaker J-Luv's Avatar
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    running windows XP on there would open it up to all viruses that PC's are exposed to right? that would be stupid....but i guess some people will do it.
    Never take life too seriously. Nobody makes it out alive anyways. Film Portfolio


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    ya... that will be dumb..

  18. #18
    Senior Member MG315's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by wattsup
    total Virus writen for the MAC is like 68 and for windows was over 97,000 If I can find that page again that did the study I will post for some good reading.
    yeah i saw that article somewhere too. it said there are over 97,000 viruses and only 68 affect the mac. 95% of those were exploits of Microsoft Word developed for windows but also affected the mac mac version of word (something to do with downloading macros), and the other 4 were for OS9 or earlier. so, if you don't count the Word exploits there aren't any viruses that affect OSX

    as said above, the switch to intel won't cause macs to suddenly be vunerable because the viruses find problems with the operating system, not the processor. and while the whole minority argument might be valid, the Mac OS (and its UNIX base) is simply much more secure than windows. you'll have a hard time trying to write a virus that utilizes a vulnerability in OSX -- the easiest way to hurt a mac is by going through a program installed on it (like word)
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  19. #19
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    what you said is true. The only virus I see for Mac OSX is the Idiot Virus..

    Hold Command + S at restart
    then type in rm *

    Had a friend do that and lost his system ...LOL he is dumb sh*t !!

  20. #20
    Filmmaker J-Luv's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MG315
    95% of those were exploits of Microsoft Word developed for windows but also affected the mac mac version of word (something to do with downloading macros), and the other 4 were for OS9 or earlier.

    so in theory, if this is accurate, isnt it safe to say that Macs are just as vulnerable to viruses if you have the mac version of microsoft word installed on it?
    Never take life too seriously. Nobody makes it out alive anyways. Film Portfolio


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