# Help me understand why Apple less vulnerable to virus?



## adamm321 (Jan 31, 2008)

Trying to understand why Apple is not supposed to get viruses and spyware/malware that the Win pc systems do. I had some idea that they were immune from these attacks, but I was just reading a Consumer Reports article that suggests that the reason they have so few problems with this is more about the fact that they have such a low market share of computers, that "....online criminals get less of a return on their investment when targeting Macs." 

I thought it had something to do with Macs having a closed system? Can someone clear up this confusion for me?

Thanks a lot...

adam


----------



## jesterpaul (Feb 17, 2008)

Every operating system has vulnerabilities. Theoretically these could be exploited to run code that does things you don't want, and that you are not aware of. Not just Windows. All viruses, trojans and other malware work because they have exploited such a vulnerability when clicking on a link which installs such a thing onto a vulnerable system while surfing on the internet, or because the user has been fooled into installing them by being misled by prompts on a website or in a spam email.

Several factors play out in the actual likelihood you face when assessing the risks from malware of any kind.

How vulnerable the operating system is
How quickly the vendors provide updates that will close down the vulnerability
Which operating system the hackers (the folks who write the malicious code) target
What security precautions you, the user take, and how net savvy you are.

To date there have been literally thousands of Windows malware programs released, and they infect hundreds of thousands of computers around the world, which are thereby acting as drones in networks of compromised PCs called "botnets". These machines may be riddled with unwanted pop up ads, they may be sending hundreds of thousands of spam emails, and spurious requests to overload websites (taking part in denial of service attacks), and sending all the keystrokes when forms are being filled in back to those who control the infected machines amongst other undesirable things. The most widespread of these malwares is a virus known as the Storm Virus, which is responsible for a vast botnet of zombie PCs wreaking havoc for PC (Windows) users, and costing millions if fraud, loss of productivity and service costs.

All these run exclusively on the Windows platform, so that is where the risk is by far and away the greatest.

There have been a handful of proof of concept Mac malware programs, none of which have got any traction at all in the "wild". This doesn't mean that there won't be any in the future. The fact that Windows is installed in about 90% of all PCs is the primary driver here. However there may be technical reasons that make it harder to hack OS X, I'm not qualified to tell, and even the experts disagree on that.

One comment I'd make is that even although profit is the primary motive of malware writers, the hacking community is strongly driven by kudos as well. It seems to me that this would make breaking into the Mac OS (OS X) something that wold offer a lot of notoriety and cred for a hacker. You might ask yourself why it is then, that nothing with any real effect (for the average user) has come to light.

I use Macs (have for years), and surf high risk areas on the web regularly. I have no security software installed, and have never ever had an kind of infection whatsoever. I do keep my system updated, and know how to look after it. I also don't click on things I don't know what they are for, and don't download or install things I don't understand. 

I spend a bit of my time fixing up my friends Windows PCs due to malicious code infection. I have never ever had to deal with this situation with any of them after I have got them to switch to Mac. This summarizes the current and historical situation. However it is no absolute guarantee that things won't change in the future. However don't expect an major change to happen quickly. If they do, then there will be security solutions that will be available.

I'm confident that whatever the theoretical vulnerabilities of Macs are, you will have a far more secure experience using a Mac for some time to come yet.


----------



## adamm321 (Jan 31, 2008)

Hi, thanks for your explanation and for sharing your Mac experience with me. That puts things in perspective for me and clears up a few misconceptions I had. I am in the process of buying a new computer and looking at Macs for the first time. Since the anticipated relief from the threat of viruses/malware is a major selling point for me, I wanted to be sure I was understanding it correctly. 

Appreciate your time...  adam


----------



## jesterpaul (Feb 17, 2008)

You're welcome. I'm not sure as to how wise some of the smug security focused Mac vs PC ads are. They imply that Macs are bullet proof, which they most certainly are not. I wonder whether they may in fact run the risk of laying Apple Inc open to charges of being misleading, and thereby they risk having the baby thrown out with the bathwater in terms of perception and credibility. Nonetheless the real world risks are certainly much lower if you are running a Mac with OS X (not when you are running Windows on it, mind you).


----------



## tomdkat (May 6, 2006)

I don't know how more or less secure OS X is than OS 8 or OS 9 but OS X benefits from the security mechanisms used in traditional Unix systems. Since Unix has been a multi-user system for a long time, it has security mechanisms to prevent users from causing harm to each other's environments as well as casuing harm to the base system itself. Some Vista users complain about the UAC "pestering" them about various apps they run but Unix users are used to having to "ask for permission" to do some things (e.g. sudo) and this allows them to use the system _without_ having to have priviledged access _all the time_.

Peace...


----------



## exegete (Oct 26, 2005)

I agree with JesterPaul. I have used Macs since 1990 (System 6), and have never had any kind of malware, virus, trojan, etc.

With OS X, it is a good practice to set up a "regular" account for doing all your work, which is not the root account. By using this other account, you are forced to actively allow any alteration to the underlying system. Provides another level of protection. And if you want, you can run ClamAV, which is free. But it has never found anything on my computer.


----------



## Headrush (Feb 9, 2005)

No OS is perfect or ever will be, OS X included.

Now that is not to say that some OSes aren't better. As tomdkat has said, the UNIX underpinnings in OS X do make a difference. You will get some people that will suggest that the only reason that OS X isn't targeted is because of its market share, but that argument is clearly questionable for 2 reasons:

A) Unix/Linux servers hold a ~50% share of the internet, why aren't then hacked more?
B) OS 7.x/8.x had a smaller market share than OS X now yet thousand of virus/spyware existed for it.

So although these are true, does that mean users shouldn't be proactive in these areas, of course not.

What many people forget is that although a Windows virus/spyware might not affect an OS X system, that OS X system can still be a carrier that passes the problem onto Windows systems. Some might say who cares, but any major attacks that hurt the internet harm all users.

So what's the harm of running protective software to help your Windows friends? 
It's not like Norton Utilities and going to grind your machine to a halt.


----------



## tomdkat (May 6, 2006)

Headrush said:


> B) OS 7.x/8.x had a smaller market share than OS X now yet thousand of virus/spyware existed for it.


I wasn't aware of _that_ much pre-OS X viruses/spyware/malware.

Peace...


----------



## Headrush (Feb 9, 2005)

tomdkat said:


> I wasn't aware of _that_ much pre-OS X viruses/spyware/malware.


Hundreds might have been a better number, but you get the point.


----------



## ehwood (Feb 24, 2008)

Long as you're not running as root, pretty much anything will need the user to enter the right password for damage to be done. That's the advantage of those UNIX underpinnings. I think a really safe option is an up-to-date Linux distribution, especially on a less popular platform such as PowerPC, e.g. Power Mac systems. That way you're using a virtually unknown platform that no one in his right mind will be out to exploit, cause he'd be lucky to find a single user out in the wild. Plus those UNIX underpinnings are hard at work in Linux as well as in OS X.


----------

