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No, of course not
That's why none of them need antivirus software
How to keep your computer protected for free!
- Thread starter ZZman
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Well, I have to slink off to my secret Jonagold meeting.
Actually the only time I remember ever being exposed to computer viruses was when I was using Mac computers running various versions of Apple Macintosh Classic O/Ss. A virus was accidentally put on a CD that was distributed by one of the Macintosh oriented magazines. That was several years ago and I can't remember which magazine was involved. Later it was admitted that a virus had been accidentally put on the CD.
There was another time when a program I had on a Mac indicated the detection of a computer virus. Not counting macro viruses that could infect Microsoft Office for the Macintosh if you had it installed on your computer, I think there was something like 80+ computer viruses that were able to infect various versions of Mac Classic O/Ss. The macro viruses numbered something like 450+.
The only problems I have had with Windows computers are tracking cookies, and a very limited amount of spyware and adware that tried to get on my computer. And a few Trojan Horse programs that tried to install but were blocked. A Squared indicated the presence of a backdoor in a Firefox web browser some years ago. I don't know if there really was a backdoor or not but I removed the Firefox web browser.
Very little in the way of malware has been developed for Mac OS X, but more and more stuff is being developed. If you check into the free iAntivirus program from PC Tools that was developed for the Mac they have a listing of stuff that can affect Mac OS X. Yes, PC Tools are the same people who developed Spyware Doctor for Windows. Aside from that list of malware various exploits have been developed to try to take control of Mac computers running Mac OS X. Why do you think Apple comes out from time to time with security updates?
There was another time when a program I had on a Mac indicated the detection of a computer virus. Not counting macro viruses that could infect Microsoft Office for the Macintosh if you had it installed on your computer, I think there was something like 80+ computer viruses that were able to infect various versions of Mac Classic O/Ss. The macro viruses numbered something like 450+.
The only problems I have had with Windows computers are tracking cookies, and a very limited amount of spyware and adware that tried to get on my computer. And a few Trojan Horse programs that tried to install but were blocked. A Squared indicated the presence of a backdoor in a Firefox web browser some years ago. I don't know if there really was a backdoor or not but I removed the Firefox web browser.
Very little in the way of malware has been developed for Mac OS X, but more and more stuff is being developed. If you check into the free iAntivirus program from PC Tools that was developed for the Mac they have a listing of stuff that can affect Mac OS X. Yes, PC Tools are the same people who developed Spyware Doctor for Windows. Aside from that list of malware various exploits have been developed to try to take control of Mac computers running Mac OS X. Why do you think Apple comes out from time to time with security updates?
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Because they are trying to catch up with Microsoft's seemingly weekly dumping of updates for Windows?
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Unlike the users of incubators, I'm not sufficiently competent to install malware into the UNIX core.
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Originally Posted By: moribundman
Unlike the users of incubators, I'm not sufficiently competent to install malware into the UNIX core.
Oh, come now, BSD is just OOZING with core-level security flaws; unlike Windows
Unlike the users of incubators, I'm not sufficiently competent to install malware into the UNIX core.
Oh, come now, BSD is just OOZING with core-level security flaws; unlike Windows
It just makes since that Windows is targeted. Almost everyone uses a Windows based computer. Why waste time and money trying to infect a MAC when there are so few users instead of Windows users. If it were the other way around and a MAC was the main computer used by people around the world you bet hackers and virus and spyware developers would be all over it!
I think Microsoft developed Windows with the idea of maximum useability and ability to communicate well. They never dreamed about all the attacks that would be directed at their Windows O/Ss. Windows does have some design features that make attacks easier. Of course security was improved with Vista.
Unix, Linux, BSD, And Mac OS X do have design features that make attacks more difficult. This has not stopped some people from finding ways to attack these O/Ss.
And except for Mac OS X most of these O/Ss listed above in the previous paragraph are usually installed on server computers. The bad guys do not necessarily want to attack the servers, unless their plan is to bring down the entire internet. Very often the attacks are directed at the desktop computers behind the servers. And the desktop computer O/Ss are typically 90%+ Windows.
Human beings at Apple Inc developed Mac OS X and Apple software. Therefore if other human beings of equal talent made a determined effort to find ways to attack Apple software, they would surely succeed eventually. Certainly Mac OS X has some nice design features that help to make it a more secure O/S. But Mac OS X is also something like 5% or 7% of the desktop computer market in the USA, and something like 3% worldwide. It is common sense for the bad guys to target 95% of the market.
On the other hand Apple computers tend to be more expensive than Windows or Linux computers and if the bad guys ever decide to take into account things like that they may decide that 5% or 7% target is worth a look. After all the person who owns a Mac may have a higher income than the guy running Windows. Especially when you consider that perhaps most people who have Macs do not even run security software other than the firewall (if they even have the firewall turned on).
The bad guys have talent also. They are not just high school guys playing cyberman. It is major crime today. People develop software. And the bad guys are people and they can figure out how to attack your software. If they choose to make the effort.
Unix, Linux, BSD, And Mac OS X do have design features that make attacks more difficult. This has not stopped some people from finding ways to attack these O/Ss.
And except for Mac OS X most of these O/Ss listed above in the previous paragraph are usually installed on server computers. The bad guys do not necessarily want to attack the servers, unless their plan is to bring down the entire internet. Very often the attacks are directed at the desktop computers behind the servers. And the desktop computer O/Ss are typically 90%+ Windows.
Human beings at Apple Inc developed Mac OS X and Apple software. Therefore if other human beings of equal talent made a determined effort to find ways to attack Apple software, they would surely succeed eventually. Certainly Mac OS X has some nice design features that help to make it a more secure O/S. But Mac OS X is also something like 5% or 7% of the desktop computer market in the USA, and something like 3% worldwide. It is common sense for the bad guys to target 95% of the market.
On the other hand Apple computers tend to be more expensive than Windows or Linux computers and if the bad guys ever decide to take into account things like that they may decide that 5% or 7% target is worth a look. After all the person who owns a Mac may have a higher income than the guy running Windows. Especially when you consider that perhaps most people who have Macs do not even run security software other than the firewall (if they even have the firewall turned on).
The bad guys have talent also. They are not just high school guys playing cyberman. It is major crime today. People develop software. And the bad guys are people and they can figure out how to attack your software. If they choose to make the effort.
Some of the bad guys have enough talent that they could probably work for Microsoft, Apple, or Sun Microsystems. But they choose to work for organized crime. Maybe organized crime offers a bigger wad of cash and fringe benefits that a legit corporation cannot and will not supply.
There are legit corporations whose names you would recognize who have developed adware and perhaps spyware. I seem to recall Sony getting caught for developing something that some claimed was a rootkit? Or perhaps I am mistaken.
Think a major corporation could develop software as good as Apple, Microsoft, or Sun? Think professional programmers working for a major corporation could develop adware and spyware for any operating system they were assigned to do it for?
If you are using Mac OS X or desktop Linux hope that they will not target you. Because they will be successful. If they are given the assignment. It is just a matter of programming and software engineering. They will not fail. All they need are the marching orders from the powers above them.
There are legit corporations whose names you would recognize who have developed adware and perhaps spyware. I seem to recall Sony getting caught for developing something that some claimed was a rootkit? Or perhaps I am mistaken.
Think a major corporation could develop software as good as Apple, Microsoft, or Sun? Think professional programmers working for a major corporation could develop adware and spyware for any operating system they were assigned to do it for?
If you are using Mac OS X or desktop Linux hope that they will not target you. Because they will be successful. If they are given the assignment. It is just a matter of programming and software engineering. They will not fail. All they need are the marching orders from the powers above them.
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Mystic, I need your email address.
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Never mind, I got it.
If you want to send a message to me you can do that at this website-you can send a private message. I am not sure how anybody can disagree with what I have said. It seems fair and reasonable to me.
But perhaps you can help me see the light and finally understand why we should all immediately drop Microsoft Windows and go to Mac OS X and Linux.
But perhaps you can help me see the light and finally understand why we should all immediately drop Microsoft Windows and go to Mac OS X and Linux.
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I have nothing to say to you. I just wanted your email address.
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Originally Posted By: Mystic
I am not sure how anybody can disagree with what I have said. It seems fair and reasonable to me.
It's apparent that you believe that!
Sleep tight, they'll get you anyway!
I am not sure how anybody can disagree with what I have said. It seems fair and reasonable to me.
It's apparent that you believe that!
Sleep tight, they'll get you anyway!
Originally Posted By: ZZman
It just makes since that Windows is targeted. Almost everyone uses a Windows based computer. Why waste time and money trying to infect a MAC when there are so few users instead of Windows users. If it were the other way around and a MAC was the main computer used by people around the world you bet hackers and virus and spyware developers would be all over it!
Virus writers value their fellow miscreants approval and accolades. Anyone with an interest in it can infect a PC. Macs and Linux boxes are more difficult and would get them more respect from their fellow loosers. Much more than just writing another PC virus.
It just makes since that Windows is targeted. Almost everyone uses a Windows based computer. Why waste time and money trying to infect a MAC when there are so few users instead of Windows users. If it were the other way around and a MAC was the main computer used by people around the world you bet hackers and virus and spyware developers would be all over it!
Virus writers value their fellow miscreants approval and accolades. Anyone with an interest in it can infect a PC. Macs and Linux boxes are more difficult and would get them more respect from their fellow loosers. Much more than just writing another PC virus.
Writing viruses, spyware, and adware today is a business. People make a lot of money doing it. Organized crime, cybercrime groups and even legit businesses are involved. There are still high school kids involved of course but once enough people were on the internet and there was enough commerce on the internet internet crime went big time.
I think it is true that there are features about Mac OS X and Linux O/Ss that provide some greater security at least compared to Windows prior to Vista. But I also know that unknown people developed exploits that could potentially make possible remote control of computers running Mac OS X. Unknown people have demonstrated such things as a modified Unix rootkit that could potentially work on Mac OS X and a conceptual virus that could potentially work.
It is silly to argue about stuff like this. People develop O/Ss and software and people can develop exploits and malware to attack and destroy and control the software developed by other people. There are actual programmers involved in developing spyware and adware. Anybody who does not believe that apparently has not been paying attention because a major corporation was caught. It was just good luck that a guy who knew what he was doing realized during some checking of his O/S that what he was seeing had to be a rootkit. If he had not found it many years might have gone by before it was discovered if it ever would have been found. It was almost undetectable and anybody finding evidence for it had to know what they were looking at. The people who developed that software were not 'script kiddies.' They knew what they were doing, they had an assignment, they were skilled, and if they were not capable of developing software they would not be working very long. In the organized crime and cybercrime groups being fired might be the least of somebody's concerns. Failure is not tolerated in those circles.
Good people wrote productive and useful software and developed stuff like Windows, Mac OS X, and the various Linux O/Ss. It is a mistake to think the bad guy team has no talent. Give some people today a big enough paycheck and they are not going to be overly concerned about hurting other people.
Can we at least agree that Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Unix, etc., can be useful and valuable and productive software? Well, there is some very well designed bad stuff out there too and the clever design indicates the skill level of the people involved who developed that software.
Smart people can study any O/S and find security holes. Just like castle attackers in the past could study any castle design and find weaknesses. The skill level of the good people is not that much higher than the skill level of the bad people.
I think it is true that there are features about Mac OS X and Linux O/Ss that provide some greater security at least compared to Windows prior to Vista. But I also know that unknown people developed exploits that could potentially make possible remote control of computers running Mac OS X. Unknown people have demonstrated such things as a modified Unix rootkit that could potentially work on Mac OS X and a conceptual virus that could potentially work.
It is silly to argue about stuff like this. People develop O/Ss and software and people can develop exploits and malware to attack and destroy and control the software developed by other people. There are actual programmers involved in developing spyware and adware. Anybody who does not believe that apparently has not been paying attention because a major corporation was caught. It was just good luck that a guy who knew what he was doing realized during some checking of his O/S that what he was seeing had to be a rootkit. If he had not found it many years might have gone by before it was discovered if it ever would have been found. It was almost undetectable and anybody finding evidence for it had to know what they were looking at. The people who developed that software were not 'script kiddies.' They knew what they were doing, they had an assignment, they were skilled, and if they were not capable of developing software they would not be working very long. In the organized crime and cybercrime groups being fired might be the least of somebody's concerns. Failure is not tolerated in those circles.
Good people wrote productive and useful software and developed stuff like Windows, Mac OS X, and the various Linux O/Ss. It is a mistake to think the bad guy team has no talent. Give some people today a big enough paycheck and they are not going to be overly concerned about hurting other people.
Can we at least agree that Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Unix, etc., can be useful and valuable and productive software? Well, there is some very well designed bad stuff out there too and the clever design indicates the skill level of the people involved who developed that software.
Smart people can study any O/S and find security holes. Just like castle attackers in the past could study any castle design and find weaknesses. The skill level of the good people is not that much higher than the skill level of the bad people.
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Shouldn't you be out on a ledge somewhere? After all, you know they'll get you.
FWIW-I find the latest version of AVG (8.0?) to cause my system to be very sluggish, in fact, it appears AVG is pushing us towards their not so FREE products. Between this and all of the other hazards of a Windows world, I too am considering the jump to macs....too much B/s to keep up with, who has time??
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