Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

paularizer · Jul 13, 2005, 12:14 AM

So I'm not a complete novice when it comes to mac, but I was wondering how does mac deal with spyware and any other unsolicited infectious downloads. Take into account that I use only safari.

PS - can/do macs get viruses? I heard they don't/can't.

Jacob · Jul 13, 2005, 12:29 AM

The good news is, Spyware only affects Windows based PC's. Windows XP is way less secure than Mac OS X, and Windows based PC's have a much larger market, which is why spyware and virii designers trigger them. Feel at ease! You will have no problems. For now anyways. I believe there was one virus programmed for Mac OS 9 years ago...and that was only an email worm. So, really,nothing to worry about. That's the awsome advantage of owning a Mac.

paularizer · Jul 13, 2005, 01:06 AM

That's one more weapon in my arsenal of arguments against my PC supporting friends.

tooki · Jul 13, 2005, 01:31 AM

Originally Posted by Jacob

The good news is, Spyware only affects Windows based PC's. Windows XP is way less secure than Mac OS X, and Windows based PC's have a much larger market, which is why spyware and virii designers trigger them. Feel at ease! You will have no problems. For now anyways. I believe there was one virus programmed for Mac OS 9 years ago...and that was only an email worm. So, really,nothing to worry about. That's the awsome advantage of owning a Mac.

There has NEVER been an email worm on the Mac, ever. No Mac email client runs any attachment automatically -- a core prerequisite for email malware.

There were dozens of Mac viruses far in the past, reaching a peak maybe around 1991. Many of them became incompatible as the OS evolved, and almost all of them have been extinct for years. None of them can run on Mac OS X, and very few are compatible with Mac OS 8 or 9. No new Mac virus has been written since the late 90s -- and the last one wasn't an effective one.

tooki

winterlandia · Jul 17, 2005, 08:03 AM

There have been a few recent exploits demonstrated lately but nobody has gone so far as to create a worm or virus that takes advantage of them before apple fixes them (which they do slowly). It would not surprise me if there was a mac virus or worm that comes out eventually but so far nobody has. The problem with windows is that internet explorer is built into everything-- if you use outlook or outlook express on the pc, it actually uses IE to render the email preview pane for example. As for spyware, well, on the pc it is typically installed when people go to a website and it uses an active X control which installs something (typically asking something like 'do you want a cool weather toolbar?' or when people install some piece of shareware/freeware like Kazaa whose developers intentionally put it in. What stops nefarious mac developers from writing spyware? not much. They could and maybe do already. You would have to put in an admin password to get it installed though which might tip you off. Also if you run little snitch or systrace http://www.citi.umich.edu/u/provos/systrace/macosx.html it would tell you when something unusual is using your network connection. The only anti spyware program I know of on the mac is MacScan http://macscan.securemac.com/ but I don't think there really is anything for it to catch in os X.

cleanup · Jul 17, 2005, 08:13 AM

I never got viruses on my Windows notebook. As long as you take care of your computer, there's nothing to worry about. There's even less risk on a Mac. Case in point, I had an antivirus program on my Windows notebook. I have nothing of the sort on my Mac.

Randman · Jul 17, 2005, 09:18 AM

But if you get an email virus, you can pass it on to friends/co-workers/clients who do use Windows.

As far as spyware, only known version was in limewire a few versions ago.

madmacgames · Jul 17, 2005, 10:46 AM

Originally Posted by Randman

But if you get an email virus, you can pass it on to friends/co-workers/clients who do use Windows.

Only if you intentionally send it to them... the messages of email viruses are usually so dumb and non-sensical, you'd have to be not that bright to accidentally forward it to a friend.

Randman · Jul 17, 2005, 10:51 AM

And some people are stupid and still use Windows. Accidents can happen.

audiophilia · Jul 17, 2005, 11:45 PM

My primary reason for jumping to a Mac 15" PB on August 1. The lack of security is the PC's Achilles Heel. If not solved, it'll be the ruination of Microsoft. I was a confirmed Windows guy, especially after a disastrous 6 months with a OS9 iMac..ugh! But the G4 PBs, OSX, Tiger, etc are truly brilliant devices and programs...can't wait. Bye bye Windows...

tooki · Jul 18, 2005, 12:59 AM

Originally Posted by Randman

And some people are stupid and still use Windows. Accidents can happen.

Yeah but this would require a dumb-as-bricks Mac user. There aren't that many of those.

tooki

sknapp351 · Jul 19, 2005, 04:02 PM

Wanted to take a moment to point out that Systrace ( a program mentioned and linked earlier in this post) is apparently not compatable with Tiger. My machine has not booted since trying to install. This is entirely my fault for not checking further into the program, but maybe I can help keep another fool like me from having to reinstall Tiger.
S

Randman · Jul 19, 2005, 10:03 PM

Tiger does have improved security including a Stealth mode.

ph0ust · Jul 20, 2005, 12:07 AM

Originally Posted by cleanup

I never got viruses on my Windows notebook. As long as you take care of your computer, there's nothing to worry about. There's even less risk on a Mac. Case in point, I had an antivirus program on my Windows notebook. I have nothing of the sort on my Mac.

this is a dangerous statement. believe me, i know how to take care of a pc... i started a information security software company that spends most its effort securing ms products. every new windows machine i have owned i manually harden, which takes significant knowledge to do effectively (while allowing windows to still operate) and it takes a long time. ultimately, no matter how much time, knowledge and effort you put into... windows can EASILY be hacked. in addition to hardening your machine, you better install a butt load of security software (av, firewall, spyware, etc.). this is the result of a fundamentally flawed (from a security standpoint) architecture in ms products, and among the reasons i switched to mac.

good news is that your mac is in awesome shape... so congratulation on that choice.

Prodigy · Aug 7, 2005, 11:19 PM

Hello everyone...this is my very first post in this forum..
I'm getting an ibook soon...but i'm totally an idiot when it comes to MAC os and stuff...
So wat i hav jus read from the previous post are all true???
I really dun hav to get and anti-virus for my ibook???

Sage · Aug 7, 2005, 11:36 PM

No you don't. If anything, I've heard of Mac users having issues with anti-virus software; on the other hand, everybody who doesn't install such software is just fine.

And before somebody yells at you, it's "Mac", not "MAC".